Coquitlam ice rink evacuated due to 'dangerously high' levels of carbon monoxide

A Coquitlam ice arena had to be evacuated Tuesday due to elevated levels of carbon monoxide.

Scott Young, the fire chief with Coquitlam Fire Rescue, said 911 received a call early Tuesday morning from an individual who had been playing hockey at Planet Ice Coquitlam Monday evening, and reported feeling ill.

Young said crews responded and discovered there were high levels of carbon monoxide in the building, which was then evacuated.

“I’m glad the caller had the wherewithal to recognize it was a (carbon monoxide) symptom,” Young said. “There were very dangerously high levels of (CO) in the building and I believe that could have been hazardous to other people had that caller not acted.”

The fire chief said the carbon monoxide levels were in excess of 500 parts per million. He said Fortis was called and confirmed CO levels, adding that the source of the problem was a heater exhaust pipe that had a hole in it.

The building was eventually ventilated and the carbon monoxide levels were reduced, but just before 4 p.m., Young said another call came in that registered a high CO reading.

“It wasn't as high as before,” he said, but the building was evacuated again.

This time, Young said the source was from one of the two Zambonis operating in the building. It was removed and then levels decreased again.

Young said the building was reopened Wednesday morning.

Joe Borlinha, the owner of Vancouver Hyperbarics, which supplies oxygen through hyperbaric chambers to help relieve symptoms from exposure to carbon monoxide, said he treated people who had been playing hockey at the ice rink Monday evening.

“They had some anxiety, chest pain, dizziness, brain fog,” he said. “They felt terrible.”

In a statement to CTV News, Planet Ice said it takes the safety of its facilities and all visitors extremely seriously.

“The building was evacuated and staff worked closely with emergency services and technical safety authorities to investigate and resolve the issues,” the statement said. “All equipment has been tested by qualified technicians.”

Planet Ice said it’s in the process of implementing new safety protocols that will assist in preventing future situations from occurring, such as the installation of permanent CO monitoring systems and personal CO detectors for staff.

“We are grateful that there were no serious injuries,” the statement added.

Correction: This story has been updated to remove a source's incorrect references to CO2. The symbol for the chemical in question, carbon monoxide, is CO.