P.E.I. official warns of carbon monoxide danger as people use generators to stay warm

As people on Prince Edward Island turn to generators amid a 17-day power outage, a Charlottetown fire inspector is warning residents to be careful while using them.

Winston Bryan said Monday about 25 per cent of the 284 calls for assistance his team has responded to since post-tropical storm Fiona hit on Sept. 24 were for carbon monoxide alarms -- mostly related to improper generator use.

Typically, less than five per cent of calls are related to carbon monoxide.

"We've never been without power, without energy, for this long a period," Bryan said in an interview. "And people go out and buy (generators), they just think they can hook them up and plug in whatever they need to run their home."

Thousands of Islanders woke up in the dark again on Monday morning, more than two weeks after Fiona wiped out power for much of the province. The storm tore up trees, knocked out power lines and swept homes out to sea in parts of Eastern Canada.

As of 7 p.m. local time on Monday, Maritime Electric's website said about 4,100 Island accounts were still without electricity, down from about 4,700 on Saturday evening.

It could be Friday before power is restored to all of the Island, company spokesperson Kim Griffin said in an interview on Saturday.

Without electricity to keep furnaces running and ovens on, residents have been using generators for power. On social media, it's easy to find posts from Islanders offering up their generator after their power was restored. There's even a website called Lend Power P.E.I. purporting to connect those without electricity to a coveted machine.

But generators can be dangerous if used improperly. Their engines produce carbon monoxide, a colourless, odourless gas which can quickly build up to lethal concentrations without proper ventilation.

Bryan said his team has been knocking on doors all over the city to help people run their generators safely.

He said it's important to only run generators outside homes and garages, at least five feet away from windows or other air intake spots. The exhaust should be pointing away from the house and windows, he added.

The day after Fiona hit, provincial officials said preliminary findings suggested a generator was to blame for someone's death on the Island.

Days later, a Charlottetown hospital announced it was on alert as it treated between five and 10 patients in a suspected case of carbon monoxide poisoning.

However, Bryan said even though call volumes for carbon monoxide alarms have gone up, hospitalizations have been rare.

"We're getting notified quite quickly," he said. "We go in and we do air testing, we ventilate. And we monitor. We have medical first responders on our team."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 10, 2022.