Two hundred free carbon monoxide (CO) detectors will be handed out by the Food Bank Society of Whitehorse thanks to an Ontario advocacy organization.

The detectors will be made available to lower-income families, senior citizens and others not in a position to purchase a unit for their homes in both Whitehorse and the communities.

"For people who are on a budget, it could be one of those items where they may chose to buy something else instead,” Warren Zakus, the Whitehorse Fire Department's training officer, said Tuesday.

"So here's an opportunity for us to not let that be a limiting factor of getting a CO alarm into people's homes.”

The Hawkins-Gignac Foundation decided to make the donation following the deaths of five people in Porter Creek late last month.

Bradley and Valerie Rusk, their children, 13-year-old Gabriel and 11-year-old Rebekah and family friend Donald McNamee are believed to have died from carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning.

There was no detector in their rented home at the time.

A celebration of life was held for the five last Saturday at Vanier Catholic Secondary School.

The foundation was established by John Gignac following the tragic death of his niece, her husband and two children in Woodstock, Ont. three years ago.

Foundation representative Pat Folliott read a statement from Gignac before officially making the donation Tuesday afternoon.

In his letter, the former firefighter called for changes to regulations surrounding CO detectors.

"I would also like to see governments all the way up to Ottawa make carbon monoxide alarms mandatory in all homes, regardless of age, that have fuel-burning devices or an attached carport,” Gignac wrote.

The current National Building Code in Canada was updated in 2005 to require the alarms in all new homes but not older ones.

Gignac also encouraged residents to have all fuel-burning systems inspected by a licensed professional every year.

Multiple reports have come out in the last five years warning the government about dangerous oil-fired appliances in the territory.

There are few regulations on the industry in the Yukon, including no guarantee that the person servicing an oil heating system has any formal certification or training.

The government has remained relatively quiet on the issue of improving these regulations, saying they are awaiting the results of the investigation into the deaths in Porter Creek.

Officials at Tuesday's event provided a number of safety tips for the public.

"As a territory, we need to get to the point where everyone has a working alarm in their homes and everyone knows exactly what to do when those alarms go off,” said Dennis Berry, the Yukon's fire marshal.

"When it's your smoke detector or your carbon monoxide alarm, you get out and you call the fire department.”

Alarms should be replaced every five to seven years and have their batteries changed every year, officials said.

"Many people tell me they don't need a CO alarm because they have electric heat,” Gignac wrote.

"But they have a gas water heater, or they have an oil furnace or they have a gas stove or they have an attached garage or they have a carport or a gas or wood fireplace.

"Every single one of these is a source of potential deadly or dangerous carbon monoxide.”