CALGARY- One person is in hospital after a carbon monoxide leak forced the evacuation of a condominium complex in the northwest community of Royal Oak on Sunday.
At about 10:30 A.M., Atco Gas called fire crews to a building in the 8800 block of Royal Birch Boulevard after high carbon monoxide levels were detected.
The leak resulted in all 132 units in the four story building being evacuated, displacing about 80 residents.
Transit buses were brought in to temporarily shelter the evacuees.
Fire officials say in some parts of the building, they were able to detect carbon monoxide levels as high as 380 parts per million.
“An adult could take a 25 part per million exposure for eight hours,” said the Calgary Fire Department’s Battalion Chief Alan Ball. “So when you start to get into the 380 parts per million… it’s not immediate danger to life and health, but the exposure limit is drastically reduced.”
Fire crews ventilated the building and identified the source of the leak and by Sunday night, about 95 per cent of the condo building’s residents were able to return.
The condition of the hospitalized resident is currently unknown.
The Calgary Fire Department says carbon monoxide is a potentially deadly gas that is particularly dangerous because it is odourless, colourless, and tasteless.
The fire department suggests Calgarians get annual inspections of all gas burning appliances and wood burning fireplaces and to make sure they install carbon monoxide detectors in their homes.
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