Airdrie orders inspections of condos where 12-year-old died of carbon monoxide poisoning
The City of Airdrie is ordering an inspection of every heating unit in the condo building where a carbon monoxide leak led to a child's death.
Toxic levels of CO forced dozens of people out of their apartments at 700 Willowbrook Road on two separate occasions in February.
A 12-year-old boy was killed by the odourless, tasteless gas on Feb. 4.
On that occasion, the Airdrie Fire Department handed out carbon monoxide detectors to residents. One of those detectors went off the following Friday, causing the building to be evacuated yet again.
The leaks were caused by water heaters that were not ventilated properly, Alberta RCMP said.
Pertti Harkonen, building inspection team lead with the city, said the inspections are a preventative measure that they felt was necessary as there are multiple units in the building with the same type of heater.
The four-storey building has 136 units.
"Our safety code officer that was involved determined that we needed to ensure that we were being proactive on any other units to ensure there was no risk to people in the building," Harkonen said.
"We've sent out a letter notice advising the occupants and the owners that they require to have their units, unit heaters inspected at this time."
The letter sent to residents said all units with the following combination of on-demand heaters would need to be inspected:
- Laars Mascot HT 330
- Baxi Luna HT 380 Condensing Boilers
Carbon monoxide levels in the building were found to be upwards of 2,100 parts per million on Feb. 4.
Health Canada's guidelines for exposure to carbon monoxide says the maximum residential exposure limits for carbon monoxide are 25 parts per million for one hour, or 10 parts per million over a 24-hour period. Exposure above those levels can have potential health effects.
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