Advocates pushing for more education on carbon monoxide dangers

Advocates and fire officials are reminding the public that carbon monoxide is a silent killer and it’s important to always have a working CO alarm.

This comes after a man died, and six others sickened, from carbon monoxide poisoning in Kitchener, Ont. on Tuesday. Police said it was caused by a car left running in the garage of the home.

A law was passed in 2014 making CO alarms mandatory in all Ontario homes.

MORE EDUCATION NEEDED

John Gignac, a former Brantford firefighter and fire captain, pushed for the bill for years after experiencing his own family tragedy.

OPP Constable Laurie Hawkins, her husband and two children died in 2008 when their clogged chimney vent caused CO to seep into their Woodstock home. The house did not have a CO detector.

Gignac, Laurie Harkins’ uncle, calls the Kitchener incident heartbreaking.

“This rings a bad bell in my brain because of the incident that happened to my family,” he said.

Before the 2014 bill was passed, less than 20 per cent of Ontarians had CO alarms. Now up to 75 per cent of homes have detectors, but Gignac believes there’s still a lot more work to do to educate people on the dangers of carbon monoxide.

“It seems like once I month I hear of an incident where someone has been taken to hospital with serious carbon monoxide exposure or a death like this,” Gignac said.

WATERLOO FIRE REACTS

According to the Ontario Association of Fire Chiefs, more than 50 people die each year from CO poisoning in Canada. Most of them die while sleeping.

Carbon monoxide is colourless, odourless and tasteless and can only be detected with an alarm.

“If you have a fuel burning appliance, wood, or any sort of wood burning products, or an attached garage - you can’t know. If that alarm goes off, get out of that area, not just open the window. Get out of that house. Go to your neighbour’s house. Call 9-1-1,” said Ceilidh Boyd with Waterloo Fire.

Fire officials believe residents should test fire and CO alarms once every month. Each detector should have a test button on it.

“Follow the manufacturer’s directions,” Boyd said.

Officials recommend replacing the alarms within 10 years.