Carbon monoxide exposure prompts apartment building evacuation in Moncton
Eight tenants were forced from their homes after a carbon monoxide spike inside a Moncton apartment building on Sunday night.
Dan Bedell, a spokesperson for the Red Cross in Atlantic Canada, said the evacuation happened around 10 p.m. at 27 Falkland St.
"Some tenants experienced nausea or headaches from the furnace fumes but no serious injuries were reported from the incident," he said.
Bedell said in a news release that five adults and one child, who lived in the Moncton apartment building, were all taken to the hospital and were later released.
The jump in carbon monoxide levels was caused by a furnace malfunction inside the three-unit apartment building.
Carbon monoxide symptoms
Carbon monoxide, or CO, is a gas with no smell, taste or colour. And it's the product of an incomplete combustion of fossil fuels such as gasoline, oil, coal, wood, propane and natural gas.
Nausea, headaches, fatigue and dizziness are among the first signs of carbon monoxide poisoning. With high levels of exposure, a person can fall asleep and never wake up.
Symptoms can arise within minutes to a couple of hours, depending on the amount of CO inside a home.
Volunteers with the Red Cross arranged emergency hotel lodging and meals for tenants until furnace repairs are completed, the apartment building is fully ventilated and the air quality is checked.
