Two people have died from carbon monoxide poisoning from fumes emitted by a gas generator that was being used to heat the home, Durham Regional Police say.
Emergency services workers were called to a home on Andrew St. in Newcastle around 3:30 Monday afternoon for reports of several residents feeling unwell. A gas generator was running in the garage to help heat the home.
“Although there was no access to the house from the garage, the carbon monoxide still made its way inside the home,” Durham police said late Monday in a news release.
Paramedics rushed a 52-year-old man and his 72-year-old mother to nearby Lakeridge Health in Bowmanville, but they did not survive, police said.
Newcastle is a community in the Municipality of Clarington, 80 km of Toronto. It is one of many communities where thousands of residents were left without power following Sunday’s ice storm.
Late Monday evening, the municipality issued a statement saying that power had been restored for 95 per cent of Newcastle residents.
Police warned residents against running gas generators, barbecues or other similar devices too close to a home.
