A two year-old girl and her parents have been released from hospital after being rescued from an Etobicoke home with high carbon monoxide levels.
Firefighters said they were called to a home on West Wareside Road, in the area of Rathburn Road and Renforth Drive, at approximately 2 a.m. on Wednesday.
One of the adults had called 911, telling the call taker that the members of the family were in and out of consciousness. When firefighters arrived at the home, the child and two adults were unable to walk.
Paramedics said all three were rushed to hospital for treatment of apparent carbon monoxide exposure, but are expected to make a full recovery.
“A woman came stumbling to the door, opened the door and collapsed in front of (firefighters), and…was able to tell firefighters that her family upstairs were also in and out of consciousness,” said Toronto Fire Capt. Ron Jones.
Toronto Fire crews shut off the gas in the home, and tested the CO levels. They recorded a reading of 900 parts per million.
According to Health Canada, the maximum exposure limit to prevent health effects is 25 ppm over one hour, or 10 ppm over 24 hours. Any higher levels can produce health effects, including headaches, fatigue, shortness of breath, dizziness, chest pain and convulsions.
Investigators believe the source of the gas leak was connected to a faulty furnace.
Toronto Fire Capt. David Eckerman said the CO detector had gone off the week before, but that one of the residents had taken the battery out because it kept going off.
“We thought that it was a faulty detector and one thing that I would suggest to anybody is to get the fire department to double-check it,” said Aftim Nassar, the girl’s father and owner of the home.
The home was ventilated and a CO reading of zero was recorded at 3 a.m.
The Technical Safety and Standards Authority was called, and officials are investigating how the CO got into the home.
Legally, smoke detectors must be installed on every level of a home. Carbon monoxide detectors should be installed near sleeping areas.
Officials say this is a reminder to everyone to keep batteries in their smoke and carbon monoxide alarms. Defective devices should be replaced.
With a report from CTV Toronto’s John Musselman
