Two Surrey residents are advocating for carbon monoxide detectors in all homes, especially older ones, after a detector likely saved their lives.
Renu Gambhir came home to her West Newton apartment building Wednesday (Jan. 22) to hear an alarm going off in her neighbour Mhairi Macleod's unit.
Gambhir called Macleod, who was at a hockey game in Abbotsford, to alert her.
She rushed home to investigate, as she didn't know she had a carbon monoxide detector and wasn't sure what the alarm could be. She had had a new smoke detector installed about 10 years ago, and she suspected they had installed a combination smoke and carbon monoxide detector when they changed it.
When she returned home, she could hear three loud beeps from the CO detector, warning her, "evacuate the building, carbon monoxide detected," and gave a reading of 187 ppm.
Carbon monoxide is an odourless gas that can be harmful if exposed to it, notes the
Macleod immediately called the non-emergency line for the fire department and left the building with her two cats.
Surrey Fire crews and FortisBC responded to the call. Macleod noted that the fire department arrived within 10 minutes, and as soon as they stepped into the lobby of the building, their CO monitors started going off.
A FortisBC technician, who arrived soon after, inspected the gas appliances in the building to determine the source of the CO, which ended up being a "faulty make-up air unit," a spokesperson for FortisBC said.
Several "residents were evacuated from the building as a safety precaution while the fire department and FortisBC technicians vented the building to help reduce levels of CO. The appliance was shut off until it could be repaired by a gas contractor certified with Technical Safety BC," they noted.
A FortisBC notice posted in the lobby of the building said that readings of 260 parts per million (ppm) of CO were found in the hallways and 100- 200 ppm in units on all floors. Surrey Fire Service assistant fire chief Mike McNamara said the reading was closer to 500 ppm in the mechanical room where the source of the leak was.
Macleod added, "From what we understand, my unit was the only one in the building that had a carbon monoxide detector. After the fire department left, I spoke with the two gentlemen from FortisBC, and he's like, 'You saved a lot of lives tonight.' He said half of this building could have been dead in the morning."
states that the recommended safe level of carbon monoxide levels is 0 ppm. It notes that in readings of 200 ppm, physical symptoms can start after two to three hours. Physical symptoms include headache, fatigue, dizziness and/or nausea.
McNamara added that this is a good reminder to have a carbon monoxide detector. "If there's any type of unit or something in the building that's serviced by gas, then you could potentially have a problem.
"Many people may not have had one in their building because they don't have the gas fireplace, they don't have a gas stove, but their furnace is serviced by gas, which is servicing the hallways or possibly their rooms," McNamara said. "So it's not a bad idea for everyone to consider having that."
McNamara also suggested that Surrey residents set an annual reminder to change the battery in their CO and smoke detectors.
Sidonia (Nini) Nestor, managing partner for Pivot Point Properties, which operates the strata, said they have purchased plug-in CO detectors for the hallways and will be installing a smoke detector/CO detector combo in all units in all three buildings. The apartment complex, La Costa Green, was built in 1994 and has three buildings with 150 units.
If you suspect CO poisoning, get into fresh air immediately and call 911, says Surrey Fire.
