Oak Bay Fire Department
1703 Monterey Avenue, Oak Bay B.C. V8R 5V6 (250) 592-9121
Email:  obfire@oakbay.ca Fax:  (250) 598-2749

News Release
Date: November 17, 2014
OBFD file # 2014-47

For Immediate Release:

Weekly Media Release for Monday, November 10, 2014 to Sunday, November 6, 2014.
Over the past week, Oak Bay Fire Department members responded to 22 calls for assistance.
These calls for assistance include:

11 – Medical First Responder Requests
5 – Commercial / Residential Alarm Activations
4– Public Assistance
1 – Motor Vehicle Incident
1 – Smoke in a Structure

The Importance of Carbon Monoxide Detectors in your Home
Carbon monoxide is an odorless, colorless, tasteless, gas that can be in your home making you and your family sick, and exposure to carbon monoxide gas can be fatal. Carbon monoxide detectors will sound an alarm when the gas is detected thereby warning you of a problem so you can leave the home with minimal exposure. Carbon monoxide detectors can be purchased at hardware and general merchandise stores and are a very important safety feature you should have in your home.

Since exposure to carbon monoxide gas can make you sick, you may dismiss the symptoms not realizing you're actually being poisoned. Symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning include: headaches, nausea, dizziness, fatigue, shortness of breath, loss of consciousness, and eventually death. Without a carbon monoxide detector to warn you of the presence of carbon monoxide you will continue to be exposed and poisoned, and the more carbon monoxide you're exposed to the greater the chances of death.

Carbon monoxide can sneak into your home and without a carbon monoxide detector to warn you, the symptoms can be dismissed as sickness not realizing the danger you're really in. With a carbon monoxide detector you will be warned when this gas begins to build up in your home so that you can evacuate and call the fire department. The fire department will isolate the source of the carbon monoxide with a gas meter and ventilate your home. To prevent poisonings, no home should be without a lifesaving carbon monoxide detector.

For more information please contact the Oak Bay Fire Department’s Fire Prevention Division (250) -592-9121.