H.W. Fish Arena in McLennan was evacuated on the afternoon of Jan. 26 following a carbon monoxide scare. A total of 15 people were treated for exposure to carbon monoxide at the Sacred Heart Health Care Centre (using oxygen therapy) prior to being released that same day.

Reports of unusually high levels of carbon monoxide inside H.W. Fish Arena marked an abrupt halt to an atom minor hockey tournament on the weekend of Jan. 26 to 27. The incident, which occurred on Jan. 26, led to a full-scale evacuation of the seasonal recreation facility in the afternoon hours after a number of players and parents reported feeling ill. One of those parents was Michelle Morin, manager of the Smoky River atom team, who began to experience a headache after the club’s first game around 10:30 a.m. It carried through to the second game at noon when parents first began to notice that their kids “just weren’t skating well.” “We really didn’t think anything of it at the time. We just thought the kids were tired from running around the building (in between games),” Morin explains in a Jan. 28 follow-up letter to the Town of McLennan. She left the building at 1:30 p.m. with her daughters and returned at around 3:45 p.m. where she learned that her son was feeling sick. “My husband, Dave, who was an official for the tournament, told him to go lay in the truck because he had to ref the next game,” says Morin. She became even more concerned after walking into the dressing room a short time later to learn that virtually all of the players (except one) had a headache or was feeling nauseous. “One of our players was sleeping on the bench and ended up vomiting,” Morin adds, noting that conversations with other teams revealed similar symptoms. With only one game remaining against Manning, both teams decided to take to the ice, including (Dave) Morin, who reported feeling dizzy when reaching down to pick up the puck. That’s when alarm bells went off in Michelle’s head. She immediately contacted arena caretaker Donald Roberts and informed him of what was happening prior to inquiring about whether or not the arena was equipped with a carbon monoxide detector. “When he told me they didn’t have a carbon monoxide detector, I suggested he notify the fire department as a precautionary measure,” says Morin, who went to tend to her ill son before deciding to take him to the local hospital. There, medical staff was attempting to determine the source of the mysterious illness. Lawrence McNeil, a registered nurse and McLennan town councillor working at the hospital that day, says the initial symptoms experienced by Morin’s son pointed to influenza as the likely cause. Still, McNeil wanted to be sure and contacted arena staff to follow-up on the possibility of a carbon monoxide build-up within the facility. “I was told that everything was fine at the arena, which led us to believe we were probably dealing with the flu,” McNeil says . But that pre-diagnosis changed in the blink of an eye after an unidentified oilfield worker from Valleyview got wind of the situation and grabbed his carbon monoxide tester from his truck. Morin says the man entered the arena through one of the dressing rooms and activated his tester, which immediately began beeping. As he got closer to the ice surface the device reached a reading (unconfirmed) of 150 ppm (parts per million) – five times higher than the acceptable safety standard maximum of 25 ppm. What followed was an immediate evacuation of the facility and the subsequent influx of additional families to the local hospital. “All of a sudden we were flooded with people at the hospital,” says McNeil. “At that time there was no doubt in my mind that we were dealing with an MCI (Massive Case Incident) involving various levels of exposure to carbon monoxide.” Ian Fox, director of protective services for the Municipal District of Smoky River was dispatched to the arena later in the afternoon and requested assistance from Peace Country Health Emergency Medical Services. Once inside the empty arena just after 6 p.m. he carried out several carbon monoxide tests, including one in the foyer, dressing rooms, and on the ice. A reading of between 30 and 31 ppm was observed on the ice. “Because we were called some time after the evacuation it was virtually impossible to get an accurate gauge of what may have caused the build-up of carbon monoxide inside the arena,” says Fox, who adds there is no official confirmation on whether the readings taken by the Valleyview man were accurate. “The most important factor in this equation is that people recognized there was a possible safety concern and got out of the building.” Barb Mader, director of health services at the Sacred Heart Health Care Centre, says approximately 15 individuals were treated by staff through out-patient services using oxygen therapy prior to being released later in the day. “Our staff is to be commended for its excellent work ethic in terms of responding to this situation,” Mader says.