Gatineau police now believe carbon monoxide poisoning from a generator in the garage was the probable cause of the deaths of three people in Buckingham, Que. on Wednesday afternoon. They no longer consider the deaths to be suspicious.
The area was without power for over 15 hours this past weekend, forcing many in the area to rely on generators to keep warm. Investigators found the generator in the garage, which was still hot and out of fuel. It was powering a fridge during the outage.
"Generators should be kept in an area of circulation of air, not inside a garage," said Jack Smith, president of the Canada Safety Council.
'Always unexpected'
Neighbours identified the victims as 61-year-old Jean-Claude Vall�e, his wife, 58-year-old Paulette, and their 38 year old daughter. They said Vall�e is a meticulous and cautious man and were surprised that this would cause the family's death.
"It's always unexpected," said Michel Tremblay, who lives nearby. "Nobody ever thinks that something like that could happen."
Police found the bodies when they responded to a call at a home on Rue Nixon shortly after 1:50 p.m. Wednesday.
Authorities have not released the names of the victims yet, but said a man in his 60s, a woman also in her 60s and another woman in her 40s were found unconscious in the home.
With a report from CTV Ottawa's Karen Soloman
