Comments about ‘Carbon monoxide sends 5 to the hospital’

after those 5 BYU girls got CO poisoning, I insisted we buy 3 detectors. One for each of my kids and one for our house. Christmas Eve during dinner the detector went off. Sure enough we call the non-emergency number for the fire dept. and they came and confirmed we had levels of CO that were not safe. They called quesstar gas and the guy came and said the hot water tank was putting of more than the furnace. He shut them off and we were without heat for the next 2 days. BUT what we found out was that the chimney was blocked so neither appliance could exhaust properly. THE LESSON IN THIS IS BUY A CARBON MONOXIDE DETECTOR NOW AND YOU WON'T HAVE TO GO TO THE HOSPITAL OR BE PUT IN A HYPERBARIC CHAMBER. OUR DETECTOR (18 DOLLARS) SAVED US FROM ALL THAT.!!!!!!!

It's not just your furnace that needs to be checked. Our Carbon Monoxide detector went off on Christmas Eve. 8 people in the house including a 3month old baby. I insisted on spending 18 dollars to buy one after the article a few weeks ago about the BYU girls getting poisoned. After the fire dept. and questar came it was discovered that the hot water tank was actually giving off more CO than the furnance. Turns out the Chimney was blocked so nither of them could exhaust properly. Because we bought the detector. . . we saved our lives or at least having to go in the Hyperbaric Chamber. PLEASE. . . spend the money it's way cheaper than hospital or funeral bills.

After my friend and her family nearly died in West Jordan last year from the exact same thing we bought a CO detector. I cannot believe that everyone does not have one. They are inexpensive and can save your life. Please people if you think this cannot happen to you just ask my friend.

Yeah, I agree as a former Minnesotan, living out here with a 'mild' winter & SHORTER heating term in comparison - it IS imperative when you have any heating season to have these Carbon Monoxide sensing devices.

You buy them, as aforementioned they ARE cheap, you put one in basement, or near the furnace (at floor outlet level the gas IS heavier than air it WILL sink ... as it ACCUMULATES!).

You then make sure BATTERY OR HARD-WIRED fire alarms are ALWAYS ONCE A YEAR renewed with FRESH batteries.

DATE BATTERIES with a Sharpie pen when REPLACING IN UNITS! EVEN IF YOU HAVE A HARD-WIRED ONE, TOO!

And get a SECOND monoxide unit for the kitchen (also set at floor outlet level HIGHER DOES NO GOOD like mentioned earlier) if you cook with gas OR have a decorative gas fireplace in your home, or apartment.

A simple HINT for EVERYONE: Too much YELLOW or ORANGE FLAME COLOR = means that GAS 'IS' LEACHING MONOXIDES ... Your gas color should be SAPPHIRE BLUE. (Not MOSTLY 'orange' or 'yellow')

You can check = reputable furnace contractor / local utility re: questions. Inspection and tests for monoxide can help, you too. Hope this helps! Stay safe!

What surprised me was that my CO detector went off just from prolonged use of my gas stove. I didn't have any symptoms of CO poisoning but the alarm got my attention and I ventilated the house. Most homes are more air tight than in the past so I see where this can be an issue.

Furnaces and water heaters are exhausted out but stoves have no exterior venting. We here about CO from them but I have never seen anything about gas stove CO levels. Maybe this is something building codes should look at to install stove vents as well. It would be easy to install stove vents during construction or remodeling whether you have gas or not. Cooking on electric stoves can put off some foul and noxious odors as well and an outside vent would be nice to have. I haven't seen any aftermarket systems available for this either. Restaruants are required to have venting but not in homes.

The whole point of the monitor is that the gas is colorless and odorless. The fact she smelled something makes me think something else also wrong or some fluke they noticed a problem.