Carol and Dennis English from Wallacebug. (Photo courtesy the Chatham-Kent Fire Department)Carol and Dennis English from Wallacebug. (Photo courtesy the Chatham-Kent Fire Department)
Chatham

Deadly Scare For Wallaceburg Couple

A Wallaceburg couple is alive and breathing today thanks to a CO detector.

"The symptoms that I had wasn't the flu. It was CO poisoning," Carol English tells BlackburnNews.com.

She and her husband Dennis could have been killed by carbon monoxide poisoning in their home if it wasn't for their CO detector sounding the alarm early in the morning on November 12. Carol says her CO alarm went off and responding Chatham-Kent firefighters discovered there were life-threatening CO levels in the home.

"It was a nightmare," she says. "This happened on a Thursday. I get my granddaughter on a Saturday and she would not have made it. She's only 17 months old. I could have lost my granddaughter if I did not have that CO detector."

The English's furnace proved to the be the problem and Carol says it's since been dealt with. Now she's urging people to have CO detectors installed in their homes.

"I put it on Facebook," she says. "You would not believe how many people have told me that they have now gone out to get a CO detector. It does save lives."

Chatham-Kent Fire and Emergency Services reports inspecting nearly 3,000 homes in Chatham-Kent as part of their Smoke and CO Alarm program. The department advises homeowners get annual inspections for all fuel-fired appliances and to install and regularly test carbon monoxide and smoke alarms.

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