High CO levels in Saskatoon apartment building due to deteriorated boiler, chimney

The Saskatoon Fire Department (SFD) said the condition of a boiler and chimney led to the accumulation of carbon monoxide (CO) in an apartment building where a woman was found dead on Wednesday morning.

Emergency crews were called to the building at 342 Ave. R South at around 10 a.m.

A 41-year-old woman was found dead in one of the suites.

An autopsy was scheduled for Thursday to determine her cause of death.

There was not a carbon monoxide detector in the apartment building, according to the Saskatoon Fire Department.

Testing by fire crews found CO levels at 150 ppm (parts per million) and under SFD policy, the building was evacuated.

“At 20 parts per million we will ventilate. At 50 parts per million we will evacuate and at greater than a 100 parts per million we will actually put on our own PPE (personal protective equipment) to ensure that our staff is protected over the period of our investigation,” SFD assistant chief Wayne Rodger said.

The natural gas line to the apartment building has been shut off and SFD officials said further use of the boiler and chimney is prohibited until adequate repairs or upgrades are completed.

The Saskatchewan building code requires any building which contains a residential occupancy constructed after 2008, to have a carbon monoxide alarm.

“Because that is not retroactive, any building that was constructed prior to that, there is not a mandatory requirement to install a carbon monoxide detector,” said Rodger.

The Canadian Red Cross is working with 10 people who have been temporarily left homeless.

Members of their personal disaster assistance team are assessing their needs and will provide them with food, clothing and accommodations for 72 hours at no charge.

“It’s stressful and you don’t know what’s going to happen, so we do the best to reassure them that we will stay and support them as long as we can,” DeAnna Down, the emergency response team lead with Canadian Red Cross, said.

The Saskatoon Fire Department responded to 1,214 carbon monoxide alarms in the last five years.