Carbon monoxide levels lead to arena evacuation in M.L.

The Meadow Lake and District Arena had to be evacuated over the weekend due to high carbon monoxide levels caused by the Zamboni.

According to city manager Diana Burton, arena staff heard the carbon monoxide alarm in the arena on Friday, Dec. 9. Burton said maintenance staff members initially thought it was the infra-red heaters causing the gas, so they shut them off.

“Later than evening, it started rising again and they thought it was an issue with the furnace but on Saturday, they figured out it wasn’t. So [they] had to evacuate the building and stop any bookings we had,” Burton said. “(The evacuation) was a really quick process, (and) went smoothly.”

While bookings had to be cancelled, the Meadow Lake Minor Hockey atom tournament was moved to Makwa Sahgaiehcan Arena.

Unable to get anyone in over the weekend, the arena remained closed on Saturday, Dec. 10 and Sunday, Dec. 11. Burton said on Monday, Dec. 12 someone came to analyze the problem and discovered the carbon monoxide levels were caused by the Zamboni.

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The Zamboni is now in the shop being looked at. Burton added in the meantime, the arena is using the backup Zamboni, usually used on the outdoor rink.

Colton Swiderski is meadowlakeNOW’s sports, municipal affairs, crime and court, health and education reporter. He is also the Sask. Rush beat reporter for the JPBG. He can be reached at cswiderski@jpbg.ca or tweet him @coltonswiderski.