Haddam Fire Carbon Monoxide Alert and Case Study

Submitted by: Bob Norton, Public Releations Liaison of the Haddam Volunteer Fire Company 

During this most recent storm with widespread power outages, the need to heat and provide energy to individual residences increased over what was observed during Tropical Storm Irene. Many houses are being heated by auxiliary means, and emergency generators are more numerous.

Carbon monoxide is a by-product of both heating units and generators.  When properly vented, the odor-less, color-less gas is carried safely away from living quarters. Carbon monoxide detectors should be treated just as importantly as smoke detectors. Many are powered by 110volt household current and have a battery backup. Change the batteries in your carbon monoxide detectors when you set your clocks back (Sunday, November 6th) just as you would the batteries in your smoke detectors. 

If you must use heaters or generators, here are a couple of points to remember.  Make sure the exhaust of the heater is being vented well outside. Propane heaters that simply blow heat and their exhaust gas through a large blower are not venting the carbon monoxide outside – they are simply blowing it around.  Gas grills, charcoal grills etc. all must be used outside.

Generators, no matter how efficiently they are running, produce carbon monoxide. They must never be run inside a garage, basement, or anywhere the exhaust gasses can seep into the living areas of a house.

One of the calls the Fire Company responded to is worth reviewing for lessons learned. At approximately 1:00am Tuesday, a call for a carbon monoxide detector sounding was received. Upon arrival at the residence, a family was found waiting outside in their car, all exhibiting cold/flu like symptoms. The family had a generator running outside of the house, and a wood stove operating in what appeared to be a normal method inside. The wood stove appeared to be installed to applicable standards. Firefighters metered the entire house, and did find some levels of carbon monoxide that were of concern – but no where near lethal levels. 

The family was advised to spend the night at a neighbor’s house. Later the next day, the children were seen at a local medical facility. They did have levels of carbon monoxide in their system that was treated. The family had the wood stove checked out by a contractor and it was confirmed to be in good working condition. After returning home, the children continued to exhibit signs of discomfort and were taken to the Middlesex Hospital Emergency Department, where even higher levels of carbon monoxide were found. 

Following this, the family moved the generator far from the house and called the Haddam Fire Company to again meter the house prior to their going back inside. There were no amounts of carbon monoxide detected. What is suspected is that the generator, while running outside the house, was close enough to the basement entrance that cool replacement air being drawn in by the wood stove also in the basement, was entering the house, and traveling upstairs to the bed rooms.

Thus, make sure that all sources of carbon monoxide are located as far from the house as possible so that no methods of transmitting the gas can take place. 

More information on the activities of the Haddam Volunteer Fire Co. and ways you can get involved can be found on our website – www.HaddamFire.com.