Five men survive CO poisoning after car left idling in garage

A man who survived carbon monoxide poisoning Sunday whena car was left idling in an attached garage said he and his fourroommates werelucky.

The five men living inthe southeast Edmonton home near 37A Avenue and23rdStreetare all expected to be home Mondaynightafter being tested and treatedin hospital.

The men were athome Sundayafternoon, when one of themwent to the garage to warm up a car.

The car idled for more than 40 minutes. The overhead garage door was left half open.

The man, whodid not want his name used,told CBC the carautomatically shut itself off, but more than twohours later, they realized something was seriously wrong with one of the roommates.

"He was feeling pretty bad. He said, 'I'm not feeling good', I told him to get some rest."

Butafter resting, the manstill felt awful andthe mencalled for help.

"One person was feeling dizzy and the rest of them were having some headache," he said.

Edmonton Fire Rescue platoon chief Gregg Menard saidwhen they arrived at the home, three men were unconscious.

'Very high levels' detected

"We determined there were very high levels of carbon monoxide detected in the home," he said. "This is why people had passed out, were feeling very ill, and vomiting and so forth."

The man at the home said itwas an accident.

"It was wrong and dangerous as well," he said.

But he saideveryone is out of danger.

Menard saidcars should be warmed up outside and even then garage doors need to be closed.

"The exhaust from the car will hang very low, and will seek an entry point into the home especially if it is an attached garage.

"That being said, at no time should you leave your car idling for any period in a garage," he said. "You could go in there to do some work, or into the vehicle, the high levels of these fumes could make you very ill."

Symptoms of CO poisoning are described as "flu-like," and include headache, dizziness, upset stomach, chest pain and confusion, saidEdmonton Fire Rescue spokespersonChrystalColeman.

"Carbon monoxide is an odourless and clear gas, so when it's in the home you can't always tell you've got carbon monoxide in the home," she said.