Dozens of people were forced out of their homes and four sent to hospital in Calgary Friday when a carbon monoxide alarm went off in an apartment building in the north end of the city.
Calgary Fire Department public information officer Carol Henke told Global News that the call to 911 came in around 12:15 p.m. when the alarm went off in a multi-storey building in the 6800 block of Centre Street North, in the city’s Huntington Hills neighbourhood.
The emergency response included CFD, AHS EMS and ATCO.
The CFD hazardous materials (hazmat) team was also on the scene and the cause of the leak was determined to be a blocked fresh air intake, which was described to be “frozen solid.”
“We’ve cleared the intake and the exhaust and are currently ventilating the building,” district chief Dave Nelson said, hoping to have people return within an hour.
Henke said 35 people were evacuated to the fire hall next door, with Calgary Transit providing buses for temporary warming places.
Two children and two adults were sent to the Foothills Hospital and Alberta Children’s Hospital.
Henke said carbon monoxide levels were detected at levels up to 1,000 parts per million, which she characterized as “very dangerous,” adding that it would take little time for someone exposed to those concentrations to feel ill.
Known as the “silent killer,” carbon monoxide (CO) is a colourless, odourless gas. The most common symptoms of CO poisoning are headache, dizziness, weakness, nausea, vomiting, chest pain and confusion. Breathing in too much CO can cause loss of unconsciousness, coma or even death.
Nearly two-thirds of CO-related incidents in Canada in the past 12 years came during cold weather months. According to Health Canada, carbon monoxide poisoning is responsible for 300 deaths and 200 hospitalizations a year.
Children and the elderly are most susceptible, Henke said.
Nelson said during the extreme cold weather it was “critically important” to check for blockages in furnace intakes and exhausts, and to make sure the home has a working CO alarm.