A newspaper clipping that my mother sent me recently keeps gnawing at my gut. A young family of four staying at a home in the Aspen, Colo., area listed for sale at $8.9 million died of carbon monoxide poisoning. Investigators believe the hot water and snowmelt systems had malfunctioned, filling the house with deadly gas.

Investigators are trying to determine whether carbon monoxide detectors had been installed and, if so, if they had malfunctioned. Police reportedly did not hear any alarms when they entered the home to investigate the deaths. No one is saying whether there were carbon monoxide detectors in the 3,250-square-foot structure, which is advertised as a "guest house" for an unbuilt main mansion on a three-acre parcel. Colorado has no state law requiring builders to install CO detectors.

When I look at photos of the Lofgren family, the only word that comes to mind regarding their deaths is "senseless." A few $50 detectors — and they can be bought for far less — could have saved their lives.

Before I get on my high horse, let me say that my family learned, quite by surprise, that our home didn't have carbon monoxide detectors. When we remodeled our home six years ago, our contractor installed hard-wired smoke detectors. We were under the mistaken impression that they were also carbon monoxide detectors. When our detectors sounded in the middle of the night on two successive nights, we called the fire department. County firefighters quickly ruled out the presence of smoke or fire. They used monitors to measure carbon monoxide levels. They did not detect a problem.

But they set us straight on our smoke alarms. They were just smoke alarms. We needed to buy separate carbon monoxide detectors. They told us to install them in hallways near our bedrooms. My husband purchased and installed the detectors the next day.

We can — and should — fend off hazards in our own living space. But I keep flashing to the family photo of the Lofgrens, who had rented the house for the holidays, although some news reports have said they won use of the house in a fundraising auction for their children's school. Regardless, they probably weren't thinking of any possible dangers. They were probably bent on having a good time away from the city.

It makes me think of the wide array of properties my family has leased on vacations over the years — time shares, houses and condos. Once, when our eldest daughter was a toddler, we stayed in a remote cabin. I was worried about her falling down the stairs or getting sick or hurt so far from a doctor. Carbon monoxide poisoning wasn't even a consideration.