Fire officials calling for mandatory residential carbon monoxide detectors

Jan 21, 2016 | 11:56 AM

KAMLOOPS — In the wake of this month’s incident when a Kamloops family was poisoned by emissions in their own furnace, Kamloops Fire Rescue is calling for changes to the BC fire code.

Captain Sheldon Guertin says the code should make carbon monoxide detectors mandatory.

Guertin says several jurisdictions have already embraced the idea.

“So far New Brunswick, Ontario, and the Yukon are those provinces and territories that make it mandatory for for carbon monoxide alarms to be installed in the home. No different from a smoke alarm, and that’s what we’re really trying to push right now in Kamloops, and contacting our local representatives to make sure we can get this legislation introduced in the fire code, so we can prevent these senseless deaths,” says Capt. Sheldon Guertin, KFR Life Safety Educator.

The Ruppel family was saved by 15-month old Celia, whose crying alerted them to the presence of carbon monoxide being given off by the furnace.

The family was taken to Royal Inland Hospital, and airlifted to Vancouver where they were treated for carbon monoxide poisoning and spent time in a hyperbaric chamber.

Fire officials want government to take the next step to keeping families safe, and are pushing for new legislation.