Two Kingsville residents are lucky to be alive after being overcome by carbon monoxide fumes in their Augustine St. home earlier this week.
According to Kingsville Fire and Rescue, a car was accidentally left running in the garage for several hours overnight and the home's occupants began exhibiting symptoms.
Kingsville Fire Chief Chuck Parsons says the next morning, one of the residents was concerned for the well-being of the other who was exhibiting signs of confusion and called 9-1-1.
"At that point, we found both occupants inside the house unable to move and lapsing into unconsciousness. Our crews did a level check and found over 700 parts of carbon monoxide in the house,” he added.
Parsons says the home had two carbon-monoxide-detectors, but one by the bedroom had been unplugged because it was going off in the middle of the night.
"When a carbon monoxide alarm goes off, it's imperative that they contact us immediately," says Parsons. "Don't think it's a false alarm. We don't want them to think that they're bothering us. Because carbon monoxide is odourless and colourless, until you have it checked, you don't know if you have it in the house or not"
He adds, even though it's the law, there are still homes not in compliance.
"We go into a number of homes that don't have detectors, still, that don't have them properly placed,” says Parsons. “They need to be in the bedroom area so they wake you up in the middle of the night. One, it's the law and it's important to believe them. When they go off, contact us.”
Both occupants were taken to hospital and both have fully recovered.