SAUGEEN SHORES - It is possible to beat the Silent Killer, also known as carbon monoxide - or CO - an odorless, tasteless and colourless gas that can be fatal.
The difference between life and death can be a CO detector that provides early warning and a chance for escape.
Saugeen Shores Fire Chief Phil Eagleson knows that detectors - now mandatory in all residences with fuel-buring appliances or attached garages - save lives.
In a recent telephone interview the Chief recounted three incidents in the past year where CO detectors may have saved lives. One involved an elderly woman who regularly left her car running in her garage.
The others were a woman whose gas stove emitted CO while she was canning, and a young family that fled their home in their pajamas when their natural gas furnace failed and their CO alarm woke them in the night.
Carbon monoxide is a colourless, tasteless and odorless gas produced when fuels including propane gasoline, natural gas heating oil and wood have insufficient air to burn completely. This can happen in stoves, furnaces, fireplaces, hot water heaters, vehicle engines and portable generators.
"You need a carbon monoxide alarm, if you have something that burns fuel, of if you have an attached garage," Chief Eagleson said, pointing to the April 15 end of a six-month phase-in program that requires, by law, for CO detectors to be installed outside sleeping areas, and optimally, on each floor of a residence.
Chief Eagleson noted that the Building Code has required detectors in new homes since 1997, and many of those detectors now need replacing.Det4tors have a life of five to seven years.
No charges have been laid in Saugeen Shores in connection with missing CO det4ectors, but Chief Eagleson said they have a "zero tolerance" for compliance, and a charge would be laid if someone made no attempt to buy a detector when instructed to do so. Convictions include fines ranging between $235 and $5,000.
Saugeen Shores Fire Prevention Officer Ron Atkinson said the majority of their annual calls - approximately 50 - involved a CO detector alarm last year. He said 75 per cent of those calls involved CO detectors that failed because they were beyond their shelf life. "The detectors are doing their job," Atkinson said April 23, adding no local residents have required treatment for CO exposure which can cause flu-like symptoms including headaches, nausea and dizziness, confusion, drowsiness, loss of consciousness and death.
Thrifty Direct
The Thrifty Propane Customer Rewards Program gives Thrifty Propane customers a 10%* Discount over Thrifty Direct's lowest Amazon/Internet prices for the top quality name brand propane products and appliances you want as of the publishing date. Thrifty Propane customer will ALWAYS get the lowest prices at the Thrifty Direct store.
In fact, like Thrifty Propane's guarantee to beat anyone's price for propane by $0.10 per gallon, we will beat anyone's prices on the products we sell at Thrifty Direct.** As a Thrifty Propane customer you also receive FREE SHIPPING at the Thrifty Direct store.
As a Thrifty Propane customer you are enrolled in a rewards program that gives you money to spend only at the Thrifty Direct store by rewarding you for every gallon you purchase at Thrifty Propane. For every gallon of propane you purchase starting 10/15/2014, you will add $0.03 to your Thrifty Direct Dollars account to spend only at the Thrifty Direct store. With our NEW REWARDS PROGRAM you get more value from your heating dollar.
* Prices and programs subject to change ** Must be the same product ** Find the exact Year,Make and Model with the same features and we will match the price with Free Shipping! See complete disclaimer below (How You Can Use Your Thrifty Direct Dollars).
How You Can Use Your Thrifty Direct Dollars:
Earn $0.03 per gallon in Thrifty Direct Dollars for every gallon purchased after 10-15-2014.
You can use Thrifty Direct dollars only at the Thrifty Direct Store.
Every product falls into at least one product category, Residential, Commercial, Industrial, or Agricultural.
As a Thrifty Propane customer your propane purchase falls into one of the same four categories, Residential, Commercial, Industrial or Agricultural.
You will be able to purchase products in the same use category as your customer category: i.e. Commercial customers can only apply their Thrifty Direct Dollars to commercial products. Agricultural customers can only apply their Thrifty Direct Dollars to agricultural products.
Click on the button to send a concern or complaint to our Ombudsman
