Detection is key to preventing CO poisoning

With furnaces humming and fireplaces blazing, local fire departments are on high alert during winter for the "silent killer", carbon monoxide.

Many readers have likely heard about the family of seven from Moorhead, Minn., who all perished in their home on Dec. 18, 2021 from carbon monoxide poisoning. Lesser known, however, are the "close calls" that happen in our own neighborhoods every year.

"For every (call) we get that actually has a carbon monoxide issue, we have five or six calls that are battery-related," Carrington Fire Chief Ken Wangen said Wednesday. His department had responded to a call at 2 a.m. that very morning, which was simply a CO detector with a faulty battery.

Yet, just a few days prior, a call from a local family turned into an hours-long quest to identify the source of carbon monoxide in their home and properly air it out before the family could return.

While the sounds of a faulty CO alarm can be annoying, having a detector not working properly when there is a real CO issue can be deadly.

According to the CDC, every year in the U.S., at least 430 people die from accidental CO poisoning. As many as 50,000 people in the U.S. visit the emergency department each year due to accidental CO poisoning.

It is N.D. state law that all rental properties must be equipped with fire alarms and carbon monoxide detectors, per Wangen. However, homeowners are on their own to make sure that their property has adequate fire and carbon monoxide detectors, and that they all work properly.

Below are comments from one of New Rockford's own volunteer firefighters about his family's experience with carbon monoxide.

"Our family avoided becoming a statistic this past weekend. On New Year's Day, we were woken up by four short chirps coming from our carbon monoxide detectors. After jumping up to silence the alarm, panic set in. Or confusion...or disbelief. Surely the detector must be malfunctioning. It couldn't be real. Things like this happen to unfamiliar names on the evening news, not to us.

"Even though CO is a real-life version of iocaine powder, I thought I surely must be able to sense something was wrong. We have three CO detectors in our home, and the only one to go off was the one farthest from any possible source of CO. I decided to take any mystery out of the situation and go to the fire hall and retrieve one of the fire departments CO detectors, which would give a definite concentration of CO, if it was present.

"I was still under the delusion that it all must be some type of mistake, right up until I hadn't so much as set foot inside my home and the CO detector began alarming. The reality of the situation finally set in. After a quick call it was determined the heat exchanger on our furnace had cracked. A few days and a new furnace later, our house is again warm and safe. Please, if you don't have a CO detector, get one. If you have one, be sure it works. I can't imagine what would have happened if we didn't have ours."

To avoid becoming a victim of carbon monoxide poisoning, please consider these prevention tips from the CDC:

• Check or change the batteries in your CO detector every six months. If you don't have a battery-powered or battery back-up CO detector, buy one soon.

• Have your heating system, water heater and any other gas, oil, or coal-burning appliances serviced by a qualified technician annually.

• Keep vents and flues free of debris. Debris can block ventilation lines.

• Never leave the motor running in a vehicle parked in an enclosed or partially enclosed space.

• Never run a motor vehicle, generator, pressure washer, or any gasoline-powered engine less than 20 feet from an open window, door, or vent where exhaust can vent into an enclosed area.

• Never use a charcoal grill, hibachi, lantern, or portable camping stove inside a home, tent, or camper.

• Never run any gasoline-powered engine inside a basement, garage, or other enclosed structure, even if the doors or windows are open.

• If you suspect CO poisoning, call 911 or a healthcare professional right away.

More information is available online at https://www.cdc.gov.