SASKATOON — Residents in an apartment building on Batemen Crescent were forced to evacuate, for the second time in two months, because of high carbon monoxide (CO) levels.
Just after 6:00 p.m. Friday, fire crews say they were called to 20 Bateman Crescent, after a resident reported hearing a loud bang and carbon monoxide alarms ringing in the hallway.
“There was a big, big bang. I’m up on the third and I heard it in the bedroom. A big boom,” resident Dixie Thomas told CTV News. “About 45 minutes later, they are at the door to tell us to get out because the carbon levels.”
The Saskatoon Fire Department (SFD) says on arrival, crews detected 1600 ppm of carbon monoxide.
The building was evacuated and SaskEnergy and a City of Saskatoon transit bus were called to the scene. Residents were taken to a city bus to stay warm while repairs were carried out.
The SFD says the exhaust serving the boiler had been broken on the exterior of the building.
“Children had been playing around the exhaust. It was reported to the fire crews that they had been hanging off the exhaust pipes, which caused the break at the exterior, causing the ventilation to be damaged. This caused the boiler to be exhausted into the building instead of the exterior, causing the high levels of carbon monoxide,” the fire department said in a news release.
The fire department says SaskEnergy worked with the property owner’s to complete repairs before the boiler was turned back on.
“SaskEnergy has confirmed at this time that it is safe for residents to return to their suites.” says a news release from the fire department.
High CO levels were detected in the same building back in January, forcing the evacuation of dozens of people.
