Local woman nearly killed by carbon monoxide poisoning
By Doug Collie, Editor

A North Battleford woman nearly died from carbon monoxide poisoning, Fire Chief Pat McIsaac says.

He says if emergency crews had been called a few minutes later, she probably wouldn’t be alive today.

“I think she had minutes,” McIsaac said during an interview with the Daily News Thursday. “I think if the guys hadn’t got her out it could have ended in a different ending altogether.”

“We’re very proud of our members, they did a very good rescue,” he added. “I think if all the teams hadn’t worked together this could have had a very tragic outcome.”

McIsaac says emergency crews got the call at about 1:13 a.m. on Remembrance Day in the 1100 block of 110th St.

The cause of the carbon monoxide buildup has not yet been determined.

McIsaac says it’s especially deadly because it’s colourless and odorless. It’s also tough to detect because its symptoms are just like the ones created by the flu, so especially at this time of year, people can think they only have the flu when they’re actually being poisoned.

“This time of year, you know, you get a house full of people with flu-like symptoms and everybody thinks they’re stricken with H1N1 but in reality sometimes it could be carbon monoxide poisoning,” he said.

McIsaac says carbon monoxide is created by any kind of burning, including wood burning stoves or fireplaces -- even furnaces.

That gas has to be vented outside.

If it’s not, carbon monoxide poisoning can occur.

“If your air exchangers aren’t functioning properly, you know if the chimney doesn’t have the chance to do its job properly then you absolutely could end up with high levels of carbon dioxide, just from the patterns of airflow through your house,” he said.

He said especially in today’s homes, the problem could even be created by running the bathroom fan and the clothes dryer vent at the same time as the furnace and/or chimney is trying to work that can create negative pressure which can draw carbon monoxide back into the home.

That’s why McIsaac says every home should have a carbon monoxide detector.

McIsaac says ironically, today’s airtight homes are a problem because they don’t allow the gas to escape as easily.

Small explosion injuries man slightly
By Doug Collie, Editor

A small explosion occurred in a home in the 1500 block of 101st St. Wednesday, slightly injuring a man.

Emergency crews got the call at about 2:45 p.m.

It occurred while a man was doing renovations to his home.

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