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Alarm probably saved lives Carbon monoxide detector saves Spotsylvania family Date published: 4/14/2009
A small plastic box, plugged into an outlet in their living room, may well have saved a Spotsylvania County family from a silent killer.
It was early on a February morning, and Nicky Morley switched on the propane fireplace in the living room to take the chill off the house as she readied her sons, Ben, 9, Luke, 5, and Brad, 19 months, for their day. "It was an ordinary day for us," Morley said. "I got the kids up, got them breakfast." Typically, the two oldest boys would have taken the school bus to Riverview Elementary, but they were running a little late, so Morley decided to drive them on her way to her job in the preschool at the Spotsylvania YMCA. She dropped the boys at school, then got a call at 8:40 a.m. from her alarm company, Rappahannock Security Services, part of Rappahannock Electric Cooperative. They said her carbon monoxide alarm was sounding and they had dispatched the fire department. "I honestly figured it was a false alarm," Morley said. "I shouldn't have, but I went in the house when I got home and tried to reset the alarm. It went off again and they told me to get out and wait for the fire department." A crew from the Thornburg Volunteer Fire Department arrived, checked the house and exited it abruptly. The carbon monoxide reading was 150 parts per million--levels as low as 50 ppm can be fatal. They turned off the gas outside, suited up to avoid breathing the poisoned air in the home and went back in, opening all the windows to let the deadly carbon monoxide escape. Carbon monoxide is colorless and odorless. It is formed when fuel is incompletely burned. It can be caused in homes by appliances such as space heaters, water heaters and gas fireplaces, as well as blocked chimneys or running a car inside a garage--even with the door open. Carbon monoxide poisoning can cause dizziness, fatigue, headaches and nausea, leading to brain damage, then death. Morley said her family experienced no symptoms. "That was the really scary thing," she said. "We all felt fine. There was no smell, nothing." According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, about 200 people die each year from carbon monoxide poisoning associated with home fuel-burning heating equipment.
Sounds like it was the career firefighters and not the volunteers, and where is the Thornburg volunteer fire department... you mean Spotsylvania Volunteer fire department station 8... Lets get all the facts straight
outside... extension cord... possibilities!
assuming you have a removable detector.
I have looked around from time to time, but have never been able to find a method to test a Carbon Monoxide detector. Anybody know a way to do this? And yes, I know there is a "test button", but that's sort of like asking a politician if they're telling the truth... I want to REALLY test it!
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