Officials Urge Residents to Test Carbon Monoxide Detectors and Refresh Generator Safety

As the heating season gets underway, safety officials are reminding residents to make sure their homes are protected from carbon monoxide, an odorless, colorless gas that can kill without warning.

According to the CDC, more than 400 Americans die each year from unintentional carbon monoxide poisoning unrelated to fires, more than 100,000 end up in emergency rooms, and more than 14,000 are hospitalized. The gas is created whenever fuel is burned — including in furnaces, water heaters, gas ranges, fireplaces, portable generators, charcoal grills and vehicles — and it can accumulate indoors before anyone notices.

The most common warning signs include headache, dizziness, weakness, stomach upset, vomiting, chest pain and confusion. Because these symptoms often resemble the flu, the danger is easy to overlook. People who are asleep may die from CO poisoning before symptoms are recognized. Infants, older adults and people with chronic heart disease, anemia or breathing problems face greater risk.

Officials recommend taking several basic precautions:

Install and maintain CO detectors. Put battery-operated or battery-backup detectors near every sleeping area, check the batteries whenever clocks are changed in spring and fall, and replace the detector every five years or according to the manufacturer’s directions.

Service your heating system. Have furnaces, water heaters and other gas- or oil-burning appliances inspected yearly by a qualified technician, and have the chimney checked or cleaned once a year. Never use a gas oven to heat a home.

Use generators outdoors only. Never operate a generator inside a house or garage, even if doors and windows are open. Generators should be used only outside and at least 20 feet from windows, doors and vents.

Do not idle a car in an attached garage, even when the garage door is open, and have the exhaust system inspected annually.

Leave room around space heaters. The U.S. Fire Administration says heating equipment remains the second leading cause of home fires. Keep flammable items at least three feet away from space heaters, fireplaces, wood stoves and radiators, and switch space heaters off when leaving the room or going to sleep.

If a carbon monoxide alarm sounds, move outside into fresh air right away and call 911. CO alarms should never be ignored. A previous report from TLS noted that a working carbon monoxide detector saved the life of an elderly Lakewood resident.