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NC firefighters want carbon monoxide detectors law
Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News (November 18, 2008)Nov. 18--Mary McClean knows the life-saving value of a carbon monoxide detector.
She said a detector saved her and her husband's life.
"We could be dead now," she said.
The couple bought a previously owned home in Trent Woods and recently they turned on their gas-pack heating system.
As she and her husband slept, she was awakened by the blaring of the carbon monoxide detector.
"My husband cannot hear well. The sound woke me up. We shut off the gas system and opened the windows," McClean said.
She said she called her heating and cooling system company.
"They shut off the gas at the valve because of the danger, which is also a legal requirement," she said.
She bought a new gas system.
There is no law requiring a carbon monoxide detector.
Jeremy Blalock, New Bern Fire and Rescue fire specialist, said firefighting associations are lobbying for a law requiring that the detectors be placed in homes and businesses that operate gas furnaces, fireplaces, gas water heaters, indoor grilling, gas stoves, gas refrigerators, gas clothes dryers and gas portable heaters.
Carbon monoxide is tasteless, colorless and odorless. Exposure to low levels can make a person sick over time. Higher levels are fatal.
Those suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning may be nauseated, experience flu-like symptoms, experience headaches, experience dizzy spells, confusion, fatigue and irritability. "It's like you want to go to sleep, and if you do you may never wake up," Blalock said.
He said carbon monoxide robs a person of what he needs most -- oxygen.
He said an expert should be called to inspect gas appliances, gas logs and flue and chimneys.
"If you use fossil fuel, you need a detector," he said.
Blalock said warming up a car should not be done in a garage, even if the garage door is open.
He said the best defense against the deadly carbon monoxide is a detector.
He said the prices range from $10 to $50.
For more information about carbon monoxide detectors, call the New Bern Fire and Rescue Department at 639-2932.
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Copyright (c) 2008, Sun Journal, New Bern, N.C.
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