Press Articles

Associated Press, "Carbon Monoxide Kills One in Virginia Dorm"

          Carbon monoxide leaked into a college dormitory early Friday, killing a man and sickening dozens of teens and adults attending summer programs at Roanoke College, the school said.
          College spokeswoman Teresa Gereaux said more than 80 people had been taken to two Roanoke Valley hospitals complaining of headaches, nausea, dizziness and shakiness. She said an elderly man had died.
          A few of the people collapsed and were taken by ambulance to hospitals. Others had milder symptoms and were transported by college van.
          Nearly 140 adults and teens from across Virginia were staying in the Salem dorm as part of Upward Bound, a program geared toward helping teens pursue higher education, and Power in the Spirit, a Lutheran group, Gereaux said.
          Members of the groups called campus police from the dorm's emergency phone shortly after dawn, and the police notified the Salem Fire Department. Experts were still trying to locate the source of the carbon monoxide.

San Francisco Chronicle, "Carbon monoxide investigated in 4 deaths at motel"

          Three East Bay residents were among four people killed in a rural Nevada motel room, and investigators are trying to determine Monday whether they had been overcome by carbon monoxide fumes from a heater. A maintenance man discovered the victims Sunday at the Casino West Motel in Yerington, about 50 miles southeast of Reno, said Scott Huntley of the Mason Valley Fire Protection District.
          "Carbon monoxide is being strongly investigated," Huntley said. "We've gotten some elevated readings from inside the room." Huntley said the bodies showed no signs of violence or foul play.
          Huntley said investigators were testing the room heater and also a heater for the motel swimming pool, which was adjacent to the room. Autopsies were being conducted Monday. "We're still trying to re-enact the situation," Huntley said. "There's no sign of foul play, but we haven't ruled anything out."

Newsday, Detection: It's the law -- Getting guidance; New York City residences now must be protected against carbon monoxide

          The tragedy, combined with improved technology, prodded city government to mandate the carbon monoxide detectors, effective last November, with the support of Miller and Mayor Michael Bloomberg. It has put detectors in more residences by making their installation a mandatory safeguard by homeowners, landlords or management companies.
          Carbon monoxide is a deadly colorless, odorless gas, a product of incomplete combustion of fossil fuels - oil, natural gas, gasoline and propane - and wood.
          Chris Rovenstine, marketing vice president for Walter Kidde Portable Equipment Inc., one manufacturer, estimated the retail cost of detectors at about $25 to $50, depending on their features. Landlords responsible for putting them in tenants' apartments can charge $25 for each one under the city mandate.
          The city law has not been able to stop carbon monoxide from claiming lives. A hearing-impaired Queens couple -- Blair Mazin, 50, and his wife, Anita, 49 -- were found dead in what the city medical examiner's office determined to be an accidental carbon monoxide poisoning in their Douglaston condo on March 30. Although a police spokesman last week said that the most readily available department reports do not discuss a detector, police speculation that the couple did not hear a detector's alarm was reported at the time of their death.

The Wakefield Observer (Massachusetts), Lawmakers unveil carbon monoxide legislation

          In response to the death of 7-year-old Massachusetts resident Nicole Garofalo, lawmaker's recently unveiled legislation that will require every resident to have a carbon monoxide detector in their home.
          The legislation, which is being called Nicole's Law, will mandate that before the sale or transfer of a home, it must have a working carbon monoxide detector. It also states that a building with three or more residential units must have working carbon monoxide detectors within 180 days of the bill being signed into law. Both would be subject to inspection.