Barrie Fire: Get Your Car Out of The Garage Before Warming It Up
Fire Service Warns Carbon Monoxide Can Build Up Even If Garage Door Is Open
With the mercury plunging to extreme cold levels, you may be inclined to let the car warm up a bit before heading out. Barrie Fire says you should get the car out of the garage first.
Even with the garage door wide open, carbon monoxide levels can rise. Barrie Fire Prevention Officer Samantha Hoffmann says the cold forms a sort of barrier. “It’s almost like a wall. And the carbon monoxide in the exhaust from your car can’t break through that cold barrier.” says Hoffmann “So the carbon monoxide accumulates inside the garage, it can be absorbed by the drywall and right into the house.”
Hoffmann says this has lead to tragic consequences in the past, “A number of years ago… a teenager was cleaning the car and dad came out of the house and said don’t leave that car running in the garage, while the teen said he had the garage door open. They were listening to music while they were cleaning out the car. Mom and dad came home afterwards and found them and it was the exact thing I described: it was too cold for the carbon monoxide to break through.”
Hoffmann recommends backing the car out of the garage enough to get through that cold barrier, before letting it sit to warm up in the open air.
