Safety officials on P.E.I. urging Islanders to install CO detectors in their homes

As the weather cools down and Islanders begin heating their homes, public safety officials are taking the opportunity to warn residents about the dangers of carbon monoxide.

Dave Rossiter, P.E.I.'s fire marshal, would like to see carbon monoxide alarms in every home on the Island.

"No matter what, if you're heating or even if you're cooking with a fossil fuel — whether it be propane, gas, anything like that — furnace fuel, if you're using that to heat your home, propane in a fireplace and for that matter even if you're using a portable gasoline generator for emergency use, you should have a CO alarm in your home."

Carbon monoxide is a gas that causes illness and can lead to death. Known as the silent killer, it has no smell, taste or colour.

It is produced when fuels — like coal, gasoline, natural gas, oil, propane, wood or wood pellets — are burned.

Switching to electric heat pumps can reduce carbon monoxide poisonings.

Rossiter said portable generators are one of biggest carbon monoxide concerns on P.E.I. because people use them incorrectly during power outages.

"That's probably the biggest incident we have, especially after Hurricane Fiona," he said. 

"We had a huge number of CO responses because of that and it's mainly because the generators were placed either too close to the home, within the home or the exhaust of the generator pointed toward the window or the door."

Rossiter said it's important to check and maintain heating equipment such as furnaces, and that you should only use CSA-approved carbon monoxide alarms.

This week, the Hawkins-Gignac Foundation for CO Education donated 100 carbon monoxide alarms to the Charlottetown Fire Department.

John Gignac, the foundation's executive director, is advocating for a federal law that would make carbon monoxide alarms mandatory across Canada.

"I'd like to see the national fire code spread the word ... so everybody is protected in Canada equally."