Press Articles

San Francisco Chronicle, "Carbon monoxide kills one, injures several in SF apartment building"

A carbon monoxide leak in a San Francisco apartment building killed a 77-year-old man and injured eight other people Monday night, even though an alarm meant to detect the dangerous gas had been beeping since Sunday night. Firefighters went to the five-story building at 816 Geary Street, near Hyde Street, twice on Monday evening. The first time they transported someone with shortness of breath to the hospital, but did not realize the person was suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning.

Thirty minutes later, around 7:45 p.m., fire officials responded to another call at the building and found the dead victim, a man residents identified only as "Eddie" who was believed to be a former manager of the building. Andre Lambert, a fourth-floor resident of the building, said he and others had heard a steady beeping sound that seemed to be coming from a unit on his floor since late Sunday. They thought it was an alarm clock. "It turns out there was a resident who by choice had a carbon monoxide reader, but that person had not been home for a couple of days, so no one knew what it was," said San Francisco Fire spokeswoman Mindy Talmadge.

A normal reading for carbon monoxide is below 25 parts per million and fire officials were getting readings of over 900 parts per million in the building, Talmadge said. "The readings were off the scale," she said. Seven other people reported symptoms from breathing the gas. They were all in stable condition. In all, 50 people were evacuated from the building and a hazardous material team was investigating. Fire officials said the poisoning was due to improper ventilation of a water heater or boiler in the basement. Both were turned off and residents were expected to return late Monday night.

San Francisco Chronicle, "3 adults, 5 kids hospitalized: carbon monoxide"

Eight people in an unincorporated part of San Mateo County near Redwood City were rushed to hospitals Wednesday night suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning, firefighters said. The three adults and five young children were inside a home on the 200 block of Fourth Avenue. The home's electricity had been turned off, said acting Battalion Chief Glenn Grant of the Menlo Park Fire District, and the house was being powered by a gas generator placed in the basement.

Grant said firefighters received a call around 8:35 p.m. for medical aid involving a child who was vomiting and losing consciousness. By the time firefighters arrived, according to Grant, more people had become ill and were in altered states of consciousness. One child had passed out and several others began passing out as they were removed from the home, he said. "As soon as our firefighters walked into the house, they could smell fumes - the exhaust from the generator," Grant said.

Grant said the generator was being used to power several appliances in the home. He said he did not know how long the generator had been on. The victims were taken to both Stanford and Kaiser hospitals. Their conditions were unknown. Carbon monoxide is an odorless, tasteless and colorless gas and is highly toxic. Just this week, three female employees of the Squaw Valley USA ski resort were found dead in their car in what Placer County sheriff's officials said appeared to be accidental carbon monoxide poisoning.

San Francisco Chronicle, "Three Squaw Valley workers found dead in car"

Three female employees of the Squaw Valley USA ski resort were found dead in their car Tuesday in what Placer County sheriff's officials believe was accidental carbon monoxide poisoning. The engine of the women's older American-made sedan was still running at 1:05 p.m. when a resort security guard found the woman's bodies slumped inside the vehicle in an employee parking lot at the resort, according to Placer County Sheriff's Sgt. John Giovannini.

"It appears as though it was accidental carbon monoxide poisoning," Giovannini said. "It appears as though their tail pipe was obstructed." Investigators found no evidence of alcohol or other drug use, and there were no signs of foul play. It snowed 10 inches the night before, and Giovannini said the exhaust fumes probably got blocked and then seeped through the floorboards. "Exhaust you can smell because of the other chemicals in it. Carbon monoxide has no smell, no taste, no color," he said. "If it's slow and starts building up you will get drowsy, you might get nauseous and you begin to lose consciousness."

As for what they were doing in the car, he said, "They are all friends, seasonal employees at Squaw Valley. They were living in employee housing on site. They were in their vehicle last night; it snowed. They are young people. Young people hang out in their cars. They have plenty to talk about." There also are no indications that the women were trapped inside the vehicle. There was only about a foot of snow on the car and they easily could have opened the door and climbed out - if they knew they were in trouble. Officials emphasized that travelers in snow country should never sleep inside their cars with the engine running because it is too easy for snow to drift and pile up around an exhaust pipe.

Associated Press, "Family of 4 Found Dead in Aspen Home With High Levels of Carbon Monoxide"

The Pitkin County Sheriff's office identified a family of four found dead at an Aspen home with high levels of carbon monoxide. The sheriff's office said Saturday the family was 39-year-old Parker Lofgren, 42-year-old Caroline Lofgren, and their children Owen, 10, and Sophie, 8. The sheriff's office says friends found the family at a home a few miles east of Aspen Friday evening. The family was visiting Aspen for the holiday weekend. It was not immediately clear where the family was visiting from. Sheriff spokeswoman Marie Munday says technicians found that a malfunction of the hot water and snowmelt systems led to extreme levels of carbon monoxide.

Newsday, "Carbon monoxide ends Great Neck party early"

          High levels of carbon monoxide forced the evacuation early yesterday of hundreds of guests celebrating Irish heritage at an annual ballroom dance in Great Neck after dozens of them fell ill, authorities said. According to officials, more than 800 people were evacuated from Leonard's of Great Neck, 555 Northern Blvd., after the gas leak was detected.
           At least 21 of the 360 guests at the Irish heritage ball were treated for exposure to the gas at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset. The leak was detected about 12:10 a.m., and Nassau police said, the cause was a faulty boiler. Police said another 400 guests attending two separate affairs and about 50 employees of Leonard's were also removed. None requested immediate medical treatment, police said.
          Air-quality tests taken inside the ground-floor ballroom showed a carbon monoxide level of 29 -- nearly double the threshold considered extremely dangerous, Manhasset-Lakeville Fire Chief Bryan O'Malley said. "High levels of CO [carbon monoxide] will kill you," said O'Malley, who tested the air throughout Leonard's, an events hall that provides cuisine and elegant rooms for weddings, milestone celebrations and ballroom dances. O'Malley urged that anyone who attended events at Leonard's on Saturday be examined because carbon monoxide can linger in the body for days or weeks.