Downtown Calgary apartment building evacuated over CO scare

CALGARY – An apartment building in downtown Calgary was evacuated over a carbon monoxide (CO) scare Tuesday evening.

The Calgary Fire Department was called to the four-storey building in the 900 block of 18 Avenue S.W. at around 11:45 p.m. for reports of a strange odour.

Firefighters discovered dangerously high levels of CO on the second floor of the building. The entire complex was evacuated as a precaution, forcing close to 100 people from their apartments.

Calgary Transit brought it buses to shelter the evacuated residents.

ATCO Gas helped firefighters find the source of the CO, which turned out to be diesel trucks idling close to the building’s fresh air intakes.

Residents were eventually allowed back in the building at around 2 a.m., once the complex had been aired out and CO levels had returned to normal.

No injuries were reported.