Canton Kroger Evacuated Due to High Carbon Monoxide Level

The Canton Fire Department evacuated the Kroger store at Canton Center and Ford Road Wednesday morning due to elevated levels of carbon monoxide in the building.

Fire Chief Joshua Meier said firefighters responded to the scene at about 4:30 a.m. After determining the carbon monoxide levels were unsafe, the building was evacuated and the fire department contacted DTE Energy.

Further investigation revealed that the problem was with a faulty rooftop heater, according to Meier.

"Kroger was very proactive and worked closely with the fire department and DTE to make sure they had maintenance crews on scene very quickly to address the issues with the heating system," Meier said. 

"We encourage all businesses and homes to have working carbon monoxide detectors," he said. "When the temperatures drop to this degree, the heaters within your home or business are working much harder to keep up, so we do experience a greater increase in CO alarms and those types of calls when temperatures drop where they are today."

Meier said this is the second time Kroger has been evacuated for unsafe levels of carbon monoxide. Last week, firefighters responded to an unrelated medical call. 

Meier said that all EMS bags have a working carbon monoxide detector on them as part of a new program that was implemented this year. When firefighters responded to the medical call at Kroger last week, the alarm went off. 

"They immediately notified dispatch and requested an engine to respond with a more accurate gas detector," Meier said. "They responded to the location and found levels of carbon monoxide within the building."

Meier said the fire department should be called to evaluate any carbon monoxide readings or levels.  

"Our gas detectors are a little more accurate than the carbon monoxide alarm, so it will actually give us a reading in parts per million of how much carbon monoxide is present in the structure," he said. "Once the fire department is able to make a determination, we are able to contact the appropriate people necessary to mitigate the hazard."