Duluth Fire Department Warning About Carbon Monoxide Poisoning

DULUTH, Minn. – The deaths of seven family members inside a Moorhead home due to carbon monoxide poisoning has the Duluth Fire Department reminding people to do their part to prevent any similar events in the Northland.

“We don’t want to see anyone getting sick or injured or potentially killed by carbon monoxide,” says Deputy Chief of Life Safety Jon Otis.  “Carbon monoxide is extremely dangerous because it is colorless, it is odorless, and it’s tasteless.  You can’t tell if carbon monoxide is present without a carbon monoxide alarm.”

The transition from fall to winter is when the risk increases as people turn on their heat and use gas-burning devices indoors.  Anytime a C-O alarm goes off, it gets a response from the department due to the potential of the gas causing people to get sick, injured, or possibly killed.

“Our rigs respond and they have more sensitive alarms than what you would have in your home,” says Otis.  “Often times those could be a malfunction of the unit itself, it does happen sometimes.  But we do see occasionally an actual call where CO will be building up.”

Otis adds another way C-O can buildup in a home is due to a blocked vent between the inside and outside of the building.  “So a furnace vent can get blocked by snow or ice blowing, and blocking that.  That allows the carbon monoxide to build up inside a home rather than venting out, and that’s a real simple fix.”

Otis says simple steps taken now can keep you and others safe during the coldest months of the year.  “A $10 carbon monoxide alarm can save your life, save your family’s life. So it’s really worth the investment.”