Calgary company steps up to help grieving family with free furnace after fatal carbon monoxide poisoning

Emergency crews stand outside a home in Taradale on Dec. 3, after a man was found dead inside along with high carbon monoxide levels. (CTV News)

A Calgary furnace company stepped up big time Friday to help a Calgary family grieving the loss of a loved one.

On Tuesday, fire crews were called to a home on Taradale Drive in the northeast, where they discovered high carbon monoxide counts that left one person dead and three others hospitalized in stable condition.

“Our fire crews found levels of 90 parts per million as soon as they entered the house, and then when they went into the basement, where the unresponsive male was reported to be, they found levels of over 270 parts per million,” Carol Henke, public information officer with the CFD, said Tuesday.

The gas was turned off in the house and it was determined that a new furnace was needed.

That’s when the staff at Calgary’s Action Furnace kicked into action that led to a new furnace being installed in the home Friday, along with carbon monoxide detectors and the gas being turned back on – all free of charge.

“Everything went well,” said Action Furnace’s Scott Bennie, the company's director of sales and marketing. “We sent a bunch of people with the furnace given the sensitive nature of the situation, including safety officers and everyone made sure to have their I’s dotted and T’s crossed.

“We gave it a full once over,” he added. “And installed carbon monoxide detectors – everything.”

Bennie said everyone at the company was devastated by the family’s loss of a loved one.

He said that as soon as the tragic news broke, every technician in the company group chat volunteered to chip in to help pay for a new furnace for the family.

Then, the company's owners said they would donate the furnace and installaton to the family at no charge.

Then, when the man who represents Amana, which supplies furnaces to Action Furnace, heard what the company had decided to do, they donated the furnace for no charge.

Bennie said the type of furnace the home needs generally costs between $6,000 and $10,000, with the one the family received being “one of the higher end units.”

He said it was pretty inspiring to see compassion and generosity coming from so many steps along the Calgary supply chain.

“It speaks to the kind of community we have (in Calgary),” Bennie said.

As to what the family’s reaction was, he said, “I think they were more in shock, given what is going on.”

After a chilly two-week stretch in the second half of November, Calgary has experienced a significant number of carbon monoxide problems inside homes and other structures.

Bennie stressed the need for working carbon monoxide detectors in every home.

“Make sure you have detectors,” he said. “Have batteries checked and changed once a year. They all have a lifespan.

“This house didn’t have detectors,” he said. “It was built before it was a code.”

With files from CTV's Brendan Ellis and Kevin Green