King Fire & Emergency Services receives 252 combination smoke and CO alarms

Yorkregion.com
Feb. 1, 2023

King Fire & Emergency Services received 252 combination smoke and carbon monoxide alarms through the Safe Community Project Zero, a public education campaign with the Fire Marshal’s Public Fire Safety Council.

The campaign will provide more than 8,000 alarms to residents in 50 municipalities in Ontario this year.

The alarms King received have a value of about $15,000.

“The importance is early detection. You need to be made aware that you have potential CO poisoning within the home,” said Fire chief Jim Wall.

A person could be taking in CO without realizing it. CO is a toxic and odourless gas that is a byproduct of incomplete combustion of different types of common fuels.

“By having a device installed it can alert you to it and it’ll let you know you have a CO level within your home. That could’ve been from a vehicle running in the garage, faulty furnace, stove, fire place,” Wall added.

Early detection is key, Wall said, so people can get out of the house.

Calls to the fire department for CO in King are common, usually between 50 to 100 within a year, Wall said.

Having a CO alarm installed in the right place within the home and maintaining the alarm can save lives, he added.

Enbridge Gas invested $250,000 in the Safe Community Project Zero this year.

“We want to be part of our community and all the areas we serve,” said operations manager Jason McArthur.