Carbon Monoxide - Letter from MB Couple

[Fastfred]

I know there is another thread regarding this but I didn't want this message to get lost in it. This is a reminder as to how quickly CO poisoning can happen and the tragic consequences. Please be safe this season.

As written by the other couple that were fishing that evening.

I feel that I need to write this story, so people will know what happened. I also feel that lessons need to be learned from this tragedy. Should any family member not want this story to remain on my page, please let me know and I will take it down immediately.

Thursday evening Jan 28th - I received a message “going out tomorrow, spending the night”. I replied “I like that. same spot?” Her response “Yup”. My reply “You crazy Kids!”. Then “Save our spot. We might come out after work for the night too.”

Friday evening Jan 29th - My wife and I were joining our friends / extended family, Mark and Corrinne for a night of ice fishing and camping on the Red River near East Selkirk Manitoba (very close to where I grew up).

We had been fishing together in the same area, every Saturday since new year’s eve, but this was the first time we were going to overnight. They were already setup when we arrived, and Mark (always the first to help someone) helped with our setup while Corrine was in Selkirk getting their supper. Once she got there they settled into their tent for supper & fishing while we settled into ours.

As the night progressed there were zero “fish on!” call outs, but I know we were all excited for the morning bite when the fishing action usually heats up. The night was quiet on the river - other than all the snoring going on between the two tents. Once in awhile we could hear Corrinne & Mark talk and laugh about something or other. All was well.

Saturday Jan 30th - Before sunrise, we thought we would hear Mark and Corrinne up and about, but did not. My wife called out to them and banged on their tent a couple of times with no response. Finally we unzipped the door, found them asleep and tried to wake them by yelling and shaking them. Something was terribly wrong.

We both screamed for help and both of us called 911. We had trouble describing our our exact location so Rhonda banged on the walls of a nearby shack for help. The fellow said he was a Selkirk first responder and was able to help 911 find our exact location, he also had a vehicle with flashing emergency lights that helped them find us. Meanwhile with instructions from the 911 operator, I started CPR on Mark and Rhonda started CRP on Corrinne. We continued yelling at our friends to wake up and continued the CPR until Emergency responders arrived (with maybe a short break while the shack guy helped out), it felt like forever but it was probably only 10-15 minutes until they got to us. Once they arrived and took over CPR, Rhonda started throwing things out of the tent to make room for them, and I tried to remove the tent’s ice anchors so we could get the tent out of the way, they finally had to cut the tent open to get them out.
Now we could only hope and pray the emergency people could help them. The RCMP interviewed us a couple of times on site while two ambulances took our friends away.

After a while, I took a photo of Mark and Corrinne’s heater and, we went back to our tent while the RCMP were taking Mark and Corrinne’s stuff away. Our daughter arrived to join us for fishing and only saw some RCMP cars. We had no idea what to do next but, we knew we couldn’t stay there, so we packed up, thanked the “shack guy” for his help and left.

I would sincerely like to thank Rev. Michael Thibert and his wife for their love and support. That same afternoon the five of us held a smudge ceremony in our back yard to honour our friends. We sincerely hope you are in a better place, and hope you know we love you both so much, and miss you terribly.

I would also like to thank the Thibert and Bourgeois family members that called throughout the day with, love and support. I am so sorry for your loss, and cannot imagine your pain. If there is anything at all that I can do to help during this terrible time, please do not hesitate to reach out.

To the Ice fishers out there: Please buy and learn how to use a CO detector and make sure your heating equipment is in perfect condition. http://secure-web.cisco.com/1gK2nbux...%2Fcosafety.ca

[lromanchuk]

Thank you for sharing. Very difficult for all parties involved. Speaks to the seriousness of being properly outfitted and educated for over night stays on the ice.

[Bigwoodsman]

That was a hard thing to read. I can only imagine how hard it was for you to write. Condolence to you, your wife, and the families of the perished.

BW

[Howard Hutchinson]

Thank you for sharing and having people become even more aware.
Such a terrible thing to happen in such an innocent scenario. Doesn't get much worse than this, does it. Thoughts out to the Family and friends.

[58thecat]

As I sit here I am numb...don't really nor could imagine what took place...chaos...hurt...grief...frustration.....sim ply horrible...thx for sharing and to all take care out there.

Condolences to the friends and family.

[old dog]

Thank u for sharing this. It must have been very hard to write. God bless. Thoughts and preyers

[kevinhits]

With all the shacks/tents out overnight all over Canada, I am really suprised this does not happen way more often. This is why I have not committed to staying over night with any type of heater in all my years of ice fishing.

[MB Man]

I am so glad you have posted some detail of this terrible accident. Mark is a co-worker and friend of mine. The past week this event has rolled around in my trying to figure out how this could happen to Mark and his wife. I realize now this could happen to anyone day or night. I remember also that the winds decreased to near zero over night so more windows would have needed to be opened a bit. I have warned others about low wind conditions while using gas heaters. I don't know if that is the case here but possibility. Mark told me he was going to do an overnight stay but didn't tell me when. He told me how much enjoyment he and his wife were having out there with two other couples. I am so sorry that you had to go through this out there but I am so glad that Mark and Corrinne had their friends that they spoke dearly of out with them. It has bothered me to think that they may have been alone that night. Again thank you so much for posting this. It makes me feel much better. My deepest condolences to all of Mark and Corrinne's family and friends.