Officials warn about carbon monoxide poisonings that kill dozens every year
At least 50 Canadians a year die of carbon monoxide poisoning and health officials are stressing the importance of installing proper detectors as we head into winter.
Michael Lewis, New Brunswick’s acting fire marshal, said there were 414 fatalities in Canada related to carbon monoxide between 2000 and 2007.
Kenny Clement of Saint-Leolin, N.B., said every time the power goes out, he thinks of his sister who died two years ago from carbon monoxide poisoning.
“We thought that the installation was fine, and it was fine, but there was just one thing about where the generator was located, the carbon monoxide … had risen upstairs,” he said.
“She didn’t smell no gas, nothing. She went upstairs to get something. She never came out.”
There was a spike in carbon monoxide poisonings this month in British Columbia, prompting health officials there to also urge the use of carbon monoxide detectors.
A family of five from Barriere, B.C., was airlifted to hospital in Vancouver in serious but stable condition. Two of the family members were unconscious when they were pulled from their home, and monitors worn by paramedics indicated high levels of the gas.
Just the day before, 13 people with carbon monoxide poisoning were taken to hospital in Vancouver as a result of a problem with their building’s boiler.