The Manitoba Office of the Fire Commissioner is reminding home and business owners the importance of having furnaces and chimneys inspected.

Earlier this week a man thought to have died of a heart attack actually died of carbon monoxide poisoning.

The man had been found unresponsive in a St. Boniface business and taken to hospital. It wasn’t until an autopsy was performed that officials learned his cause of death.

A day later 20 people from the same business were complaining of feeling ill and they evacuated the building. One person had to be taken to hospital.

An initial investigation into the cause of the illness found that a chimney cover had collapsed preventing the chimney to vent properly causing a buildup of carbon monoxide.

Carbon monoxide (CO) is an odourless, colourless gas that results from combustion of fuel in furnaces, vehicles, small engines like those used on snowblowers, gas or wood stoves, lanterns, bar-b-ques, fireplaces for example. Without proper ventilation CO can build up, especially indoors or in confined spaces like sheds or garages, poisoning people and animals who breathe it.

The most common symptoms of CO poisoning are headache, dizziness, weakness, upset stomach, vomiting, chest pain and confusion. They are often described as ‘flu-like’. CO detectors are available at many retail outlets and should be checked every six months.

How can I prevent CO poisoning in my home?

• Install a battery-operated or battery back-up CO detector in your home and check or replace the battery when you change the time on your clocks each spring and fall. Place your detector where it will wake you up if it alarms, such as outside your bedroom. Consider buying a detector with a digital readout. This detector can tell you the highest level of CO concentration in your home in addition to alarming. Replace your CO detector every five years.
• Have your heating system, water heater, and any other gas, oil, or coal burning appliances serviced by a qualified technician every year.
• Do not use portable flameless chemical heaters indoors.
• If you smell an odor from your gas refrigerator have an expert service it. An odor from your gas refrigerator can mean it could be leaking CO.
• Make sure your gas appliances are vented properly. Horizontal vent pipes for appliances, such as a water heater, should go up slightly as they go toward outdoors, as shown below. This prevents CO from leaking if the joints or pipes aren’t fitted tightly.
• Have your chimney checked or cleaned every year. Chimneys can be blocked by debris. This can cause CO to build up inside your home or cabin.
• Never patch a vent pipe with tape, gum, or something else. This kind of patch can make CO build up in your home, cabin, or camper.
• Never use a gas range or oven for heating. Using a gas range or oven for heating can cause a build up of CO inside your home, cabin, or camper.
• Never burn charcoal indoors. Burning charcoal – red, gray, black, or white – gives off CO.
• Never use a portable gas camp stove indoors. Using a gas camp stove indoors can cause CO to build up inside your home, cabin, or camper.
• Never use a generator inside your home, basement, or garage or less than 20 feet from any window, door, or vent.

Over the last decade more than 400 people have died in Canada due to carbon monoxide poisoning.

It is good practice to protect your family and home with a carbon monoxide detector. These inexpensive devices can warn you of increased carbon monoxide within your home. 

Carbon Monoxide detectors can be purchased a major hardware retail outlets.

-News4 Staff-