Family escapes carbon monoxide threat

"Thank God for the carbon monoxide detector," said Robert Leroux. "It saved our lives for sure."

When the detector woke Leroux, his girlfriend and three year-old son at 5 a.m. yesterday their home at 16 Truland Street was filled with deadly carbon monoxide apparently generated by a faulty propane furnace.

Leroux and his family, all suffering severe headaches and nausea, left the house and reported a gas leak. Deputy Fire Chief Shawn Riley said that when firefighters arrived they found that Leroux registered a carbon monoxide level of 23-percent while his son registered 25-percent and his girlfriend 27-percent compared to a normal level of zero for those who do not smoke and between three and seven-percent for smokers. Leroux said he was told the readings were the highest seen by the firefighters and by the hospital in 20 years. "We're lucky to be here," he added.

"Those reading were taken after they had been standing outside for at least 20 minutes, Riley said. "This was an extremely serious situation," he continued. "Without the CO detector, the family might never have woken up and we would have been reporting three deaths this morning."

Riley said that the detector is triggered when the concentration of carbon monoxide reaches 30 parts per million (ppm). Readings taken in the Leroux home recorded levels of 200 ppm in the basement and 150 ppm in the upstairs bedrooms.

Leroux said the family was taken to Lakes Region General Hospital where all three were placed on high flow oxygen for four hours. "We were all very sick. Our levels were off the charts," he remarked.

Riley explained that carbon monoxide bonds to red blood cells, which transport oxygen throughout the body, but even more readily than oxygen and then blocks oxygen from reaching tissues and vital organs leading to death. "The only treatment," he said, "is to drown the cells with oxygen." He said that in very severe cases victims of carbon monoxide poisoning are placed in hyperbaric chambers, where oxygen is administered at a at high pressure.

Riley said that heating systems, including gas and oil furnaces and wood and pellet stoves, that are not operating or ventilated properly can release carbon monoxide. Failed chimney linings," he said, may also cause carbon monoxide to leak into living and sleeping areas. Since carbon monoxide is odorless and colorless, a detector is the most effective means of reducing the risk of poisoning.

"It opened my eyes," Leroux said. "I recommend that everybody gets one." Leroux and his family are staying in a local hotel while their furnace is replaced. "They are putting in a oil furnace right away," Leroux said, a job he expects will take a couple of days.

Deputy Fire Chief Charles Roffo said that heating systems should be inspected and serviced regularly and properly ventilated while echoing Riley's call for the installation of carbon monoxide detectors. He said that last year the Legislature required detectors in all multi-family dwellings while granting property owners two years to comply. All new single-family residences must include detectors wired directly to the electrical system.