Calgary Hotel Evacuations: The Carbon Monoxide Crisis Escalating Across the City

CALGARY, AB — When firefighters stormed the Emerald Hotel & Suites on February 19, they found carbon monoxide levels in the basement exceeding 300 parts per million. The evacuation threshold? 50 ppm. One hundred twenty guests and staff were cleared out. Two went to hospital.

The culprit was a malfunctioning boiler. The broader story is a city seeing carbon monoxide incidents spike to levels not recorded since 2020.

The 700+ Incident Year

Calgary Fire Department attended over 700 carbon monoxide calls in 2025, the highest count in five years. In the first six weeks of 2026 alone, CFD responded to 117 incidents: 73 in January, 44 by mid-February.

At 400 to 500 ppm, exposure causes irreversible damage within hours. The Emerald's basement clocked over 300. Levels were detected throughout the building.

The Code Gap in Older Buildings

Since 2006, the Alberta Building Code has required carbon monoxide alarms in new residential construction with fuel-burning appliances. Hotels built before that date operate in a grey zone. Installation is encouraged. Enforcement is patchy.

The Alberta Fire Code mandates that installed alarms must be inspected, tested, and maintained per manufacturer specs. But older commercial accommodations may lack the infrastructure entirely.

On January 1, 2026, new Fire Code rules expanded CO alarm placement requirements in existing homes: adjacent to every sleeping area, on every storey with a fuel-burning appliance, fireplace, or attached garage. Commercial buildings face no equivalent retrofit mandate.

Who Owns the Risk

Hotel management is responsible for boiler maintenance and alarm compliance. The Calgary Fire Department enforces the Alberta Fire Code and responds to incidents. Alberta Municipal Affairs oversees the codes themselves.

The Alberta Hotel & Lodging Association recommends annual maintenance reviews by qualified contractors. Whether that happens consistently across Calgary's 200+ hotels is unknown. No public inspection database exists.

The February Pattern

A year earlier, on February 12, 2025, a father and son were hospitalized in northeast Calgary after a vehicle was left running in an attached garage. Investigators found no working CO alarms in the home.

Two weeks ago, the Emerald's boiler failed. Same invisible threat. Same preventable outcome.

Calgary Fire's message during Fire Prevention Week last October warned of the 'consistent increase' in carbon monoxide calls. The Emerald evacuation proved the trend hasn't reversed. It's accelerated.