By Nels Johnson
San Jose Mercury News
SAN JOSE, Calif. — A Point Reyes Station family of four was back home and feeling fine this week after a close call in which they were poisoned by deadly carbon monoxide fumes from a faulty heater.
“The family is doing well,” said Marin County Fire Chief Ken Massucco. There were “no lasting effects of the poisoning,” he added.
Fire officials from Woodacre to Novato used the incident to underscore the need to install carbon monoxide detectors in accordance with a new state law.
Family members did not want to come forward to talk about their experience, but officials said the parents, along with their son and daughter, thought they had the flu last weekend. When the two kids became listless Monday morning, the parents called 911 and were told by a sheriff’s dispatcher to get out of the house immediately.
“They got sick,” county fire Capt. Rick Wonneberger said. “They had flu-like symptoms for three days and it got progressively worse.”
A faulty propane wall heater was to blame. It was fixed and carbon monoxide detectors were installed in the home.
Massucco noted that as of July 1, all owners of single-family and two-unit homes with gas-burning appliances in California were required by a new law to install carbon monoxide detectors. By Jan. 1, 2013, owners of all other residential units must install carbon monoxide alarms.
“Carbon monoxide is a colorless, odorless, tasteless gas,” Massucco said. “The only way you know you have a problem
is through a CO detector.” Symptoms include headaches, shortness of breath, dizziness and nausea.
He praised the family for calling 911, the dispatcher for advising them to evacuate, and paramedics and hospital staffers for responding promptly and acting appropriately.
In California, about 700 people are treated for carbon monoxide poisoning every year, and as many as 40 die, he said. Massucco said firefighters get several calls a year about detectors that have sounded the alarm “but only on a few of those do we find someone who is suffering from CO poisoning.”
The devices cost about $30 at local stores. “Just like smoke detectors, CO detectors will save lives,” the chief said. “The challenge we face is educating the public on the importance of the CO detector to their family’s safety.”
In an effort to publicize the need for carbon monoxide detectors, Novato Fire District officials next week are scheduled to declare the period as “Carbon Monoxide Awareness Week.”
The district said it “urges families to inspect, protect, and detect to safeguard loved ones from the ‘silent killer,’ carbon monoxide.”
A leak can be triggered by household sources, including gas-fired appliances, wall heaters, space heaters, chimney flues and portable generators.
“The recent incident where a family of four poisoned by carbon monoxide fumes from a faulty heater at their Point Reyes Station home should remind us that because you cannot see it, smell it or taste it, you or your loved ones could be exposed without even knowing it,” said LJ Silverman, president of the Novato Fire District board.
“Once installed in your home, if the CO alarm sounds, immediately move to a fresh air location outdoors or by an open window or door,” district Fire Marshal Bill Tyler advised. “Make sure everyone inside the home is accounted for. Call 911 for help from a fresh air location and stay there until emergency personnel arrives to assist.”
Since 2002, the Novato district has responded to 45 carbon monoxide emergency calls.
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