Fire chiefs across Canada say most Canadians unprotected against silent killer
VANCOUVER — Carbon monoxide is called the silent killer, but most homeowners in Canada aren’t required to install inexpensive life-saving detectors along with smoke alarms, says the Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs.
As of 2010, a national building code made it mandatory for new homes to be fitted with carbon monoxide detectors, but people in older dwellings should also be protected against the odourless and colourless gas that often kills people in their sleep, said Pierre Voisine, a director with the association.
“It’s very difficult for a community to try to enforce something that’s not mandated,” Voisine said. “Until that happens everywhere it’s very challenging.”
Voisine, who is the fire chief in Cornwall, Ont., said the suspected carbon-monoxide poisoning deaths of a family of four recently near Ashcroft, B.C., highlight the need for all homes, not just new ones, to have detectors.