Estevan Fire Chief Dale Feser is applauding the quick-thinking of a local resident following a carbon monoxide (CO) call on Saturday night.
Feser received a call on his cell phone Saturday around supper time about a potential CO issue.
“He was a little reluctant to call 911, but after a very brief description of what was occurring, he was directed to hang up the phone and evacuate the home, as carbon monoxide levels were 100 parts per million, and still climbing,” said Feser.
The tenants cleared the home and waited for the fire department’s arrival. SaskEnergy was also asked to attend the scene.
Once crews arrived, they determined CO levels were more than 348 ppm in the home.
“Had the homeowner, or anybody else, neglected to recognize this hazard, and just unplugged the carbon monoxide detection device, and just went to bed, this unfortunately would have been a very serious incident, probably resulting in a fatality,” said Feser.
The quick thinking by the homeowners allowed emergency services to get to the scene on time.
“They did not suffer any effects of carbon monoxide poisoning,” said Feser. They were checked out on scene, and crews were able to pinpoint the cause of the carbon monoxide leak was a boiler heating appliance for the home, and were able to get in and ventilate and bring the carbon monoxide levels back down to zero.”
It was the second CO-related call for the fire department last week. The other came at noon on Jan. 17. Crews attended with gas detection equipment. The probable cause was a faulty backup battery for the monitoring device.
Feser said it’s important that people not take chances when dealing with CO.
“You can call us and we’ll come in and we’ll actually definitively be able to tell you if there’s an issue or not,” said Feser. “At the end of the day, if it’s just a dead battery or a faulty alarm, you have peace of mind.”
Firefighters were also called to an alarm at St. Joseph’s Hospital on Jan. 15. When crews arrived, they found that there wasn’t a visible smoke or flame. After consulting with their liaison people at the hospital, it was determined that a fire alarm pull station was activated in the long-term care ward. Crews still went in and checked to see if there was a reason for pulling the alarm, but there wasn’t.
Also during the past week, the fire department had their first training for six new recruits.
The fire department has also been active promoting the Montreal Canadiens alumni hockey game that will be taking place on Feb. 22 at Affinity Place against the OSI-Can Bruins hockey team. Proceeds will be directed towards OSI-Can, a support program for veterans and community first responders who have experienced an operational stress injury, such as post-traumatic stress disorder.
