ESTEVAN - Estevan fire crews were alerted by a carbon monoxide (CO) alarm that went off in a residence in the central area at about 8 p.m. on Thursday.
Once on scene, firefighters picked up higher than normal readings of CO in the basement of the building.
The family evacuated the house in time and no one suffered CO exposure.
"We were able to isolate it to the bedroom area. SaskEnergy came in to assist with this call, and it was found that there was a supply air exchange makeup issue there. The home wasn't getting enough air for the gas-fired appliances, and it wasn't allowing the gas-fired appliances to safely ventilate the home," explained Estevan Fire Chief Dale Feser.
The homeowner was made aware of that, and SaskEnergy did take out the appliance so they could have the issue properly corrected.
"This is the time of the year where we're starting to see cooler temperatures in the area. So our gas-fired appliances are going to start kicking in a lot more than what they were in the past," Feser said.
"So it’s a perfect opportunity to, number one, make sure that you have working carbon monoxide detection equipment in your home. It is your standard plug-in model or battery-operated model. Installation is as per the manufacturer's recommendations and instructions, but you can put them on the ceiling or plug them in the wall.
"Also another good idea is to contact the local heating and ventilation duct cleaning companies to ensure your gas-fired appliances are actually vacuumed out there so that we don't have an accumulation of dust and other materials inside the venting itself that could cause a fire as well."
On Friday at about 9 p.m., a residential fire alarm went off in the central part of Estevan. Once crews arrived on scene it was found that it was a cooking-related issue.
"Gentle reminder to all citizens in our response area is to make sure that you're never, ever leaving any cooking unattended. You want to make sure that somebody is there at all times to avoid any premature dispatch or burning your food or kitchen fires," Feser said.
There wasn't enough smoke remaining in the building for any ventilation efforts on behalf of the fire department.
Tuesday at 3.30 a.m. fire crews were dispatched to a commercial fire alarm that went off in the south-central area of the city. Crews arrived on scene to find that the place was safely evacuated. They spent some time checking the area out with thermal imaging cameras and did the entire sweep of the building to ensure there's no reason for the fire alarm to be going off.
"We were not picking up any heat signatures, there's no smell of any smoke or anything burning. We attempted to reset the fire alarm panel, which immediately went into an alarm again. And after several times trying to reset the fire alarm panel it was deemed that it was a faulty detection head," Feser said.
The issue was brought to the attention of the building manager and crews returned to the fire station.
Feser also noted that with cooler temperatures settling in and potential precipitations in the forecast, the fire danger index decreased and they will not be issuing any fire bans in the near future.
