With the deadline approaching for mandatory installation of carbon monoxide (CO) alarms in Ontario residences, the Minto Fire Department will be giving out free CO alarms though draws held at local businesses.
Last June, Minto Fire, in partnership with Harriston Motors, hosted its second annual Touch a Truck event in support of CO awareness. John Gignac, from the Hawkins-Gignac Foundation, made a surprise visit to the event.
In late 2008, Gignac, a retired firefighter, lost his niece, her husband and their two children to CO poisoning. A blocked chimney vent forced the deadly gas from their gas fireplace back into their home. Since then, Gignac has established the Hawkins-Gignac Foundation for CO education and spends his retirement imploring others to protect themselves from CO with one simple step: installing a CSA-approved CO alarm.
In the Fall of 2014, the Hawkins-Gignac Foundation informed Minto Fire that Minto Fire and Touch a Truck were chosen to receive a donation of carbon monoxide alarms from the foundation. In December, the foundation told Minto Fire the Insurance Bureau of Canada was also donating CO alarms to Minto Fire.
On Feb. 3, Gignac and Mary Ellen Sheppard of the Hawkins Gignac Foundation; Pat Folliott of Reality Click; Doug DeRabbie and Matt Hiraishi of the Insurance Bureau of Canada presented the donation to the Town of Minto council and Minto Fire Department.
“Minto Fire is extremely appreciative of the donation of CO alarms to the community, and will be distributing them to our residents via Minto Fire’s 60 Alarms in 60 Days campaign prior to the first installation deadline of April 15, 2015,” stated a press release from Minto Fire.
The alarms will be given out through daily draws from ballots distributed through businesses in Minto.
To learn more about the program and qualify to win visit the website www.mintofiredept.on.ca.
