The importance of teaching children to call 911 at the right time was on display in Kelowna on Tuesday morning, April 1.

Around 7:30 a.m., the Kelowna Fire Department (KFD) and emergency crews received a call for a possible gas leak in the 1600 block of Highland Drive North, called in by a 10-year-old child.

Upon arrival at the residential home, KFD crews found eight people, four adults and four youths suffering from "what appeared to be symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning," assistant fire chief Eric Grootendorst told Black Press Media.

Additionally, no alarms were going off when crews arrived and it's unknown if the home had carbon monoxide detections or if they were malfunctioning.

"[Crews] did some air testing and they did in fact find elevated levels of carbon monoxide in the structure," said Grootendorst. 

All eight family members were transported to Kelowna General Hospital (KGH) while FortisBC arrived at the home and shut off the gas line.

Around the time of the incident, a Facebook post in Kelowna Alert caused some stir online as a reported "Code Orange" was called at KGH. Interior Health (IH) confirmed to Black Press Media that a Code Orange was called in. According to a , Code Orange means disaster or mass casualties, however, no one has died as a result of this incident. 

Additionally, IH provided the following statement regarding Code Orange:

"A 鈥淐ode Orange Alert鈥� notifies hospital teams of a potential event that could exceed current hospital capacity, allowing staff to prepare, assess resources, and plan without fully activating emergency protocols. These can be cancelled, or transition to a Code Orange. When a 鈥淐ode Orange鈥� is called, the disaster response plan is fully activated, resources are mobilized, staff are recalled, and treatment areas are expanded to manage a surge of patients. The key difference is that an alert is a preparatory measure, while a Code Orange involves immediate, active response to meet patient care needs."

The status of the eight people involved is unknown at this time but Grootendorst said none of them were in critical condition when transported to hospital. 

In regards to the house, KFD crews ventilated the structure and it's now up to the homeowner's discretion to decide when the family will return.

"Once it's made safe, we hand it back over to the owner," said Grootendorst. "The gas will be shut off until they're able to find out where the carbon monoxide leak came from and kind of rectify that."

The assistant fire chief added it's not "really their job to investigate where the leak came from" but Grootendorst said it would've likely come from a fuel-burning appliance. 

"We just want to remind everybody one, to go through with your children when to call 911 if there's any emergency and also if you have fuel-burning appliances such as natural gas furnaces that you have working carbon monoxide detectors," added Grootendorst.