Carbon monoxide can be deadly but few have detectors

According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, 170 people die every year in the United States, on average, from carbon monoxide produced by non-automotive consumer products such as malfunctioning fuel-burning appliances like furnaces, ranges, water heaters and room heaters. Engine-powered equipment, including portable generators, fireplaces and charcoal that is burned in homes and other enclosed areas can also cause carbon monoxide poisoning.

Sioux City Fire Marshal Mark Aesoph said firefighters respond to many carbon monoxide alarms per year in the city, mostly in the wintertime when homes are closed up a little tighter and furnaces are running.

Some incidents, he said, involve malfunctioning alarms. Others are true carbon monoxide incidents, but the occupants haven't developed symptoms because they were alerted by the alarm. When an alarm isn't present or working properly, Aesop said residents can develop symptoms which include dizziness, lightheadedness, shortness or breath, nausea and vomiting. In severe cases carbon monoxide can render a person unconscious and even kill them.

"They mimic flu-like symptoms and progress into obviously very severe life-threatening symptoms," he said. "The most dangerous time with carbon monoxide is when you're asleep. You're not going to notice any of the symptoms. You're just not going to wake up."

Five guests of Sioux City's Corey Motel were exposed to carbon monoxide in early September. A women, her two children and her parents were taken to a hospital by ambulance, suffering from headache, vomiting and nausea.

The 2009 international fire and building code doesn't require carbon monoxide detection in commercial properties. Aesoph said the 2012 code, which hasn't yet been adopted, mandates that carbon monoxide detectors be installed.

Few single-family homes in Sioux City, Aesoph said, have carbon monoxide detectors.

"From a single-family dwelling the fire department does not have any jurisdiction on that," he said. "I believe that requirement will be in single-family homes for new construction when we move to the 2015 (international fire and building code)."

You can purchase a basic battery-powered detector for under $20 or go with a more expensive, sleek, high-tech one.

Nest Protect makes a carbon monoxide and smoke combination alarm that will even message your smartphone when the alarm goes off. You can check on the detector at any time with the nest app.

Carbon monoxide detectors, Aesoph said, should be installed near sleeping areas according to the manufacturer's directions.

"Carbon monoxide is very, very similar to ambient air when it comes to the density, so if there's any air movement in your house just from the furnace or doors opening and closing or a window opening, it's going to go pretty much everywhere from top to bottom," he said.

If you have an carbon monoxide alarm and it goes off, Aesoph said you should call 911 immediately, even if you feel fine. He said firefighters armed with their own monitors will test carbon monoxide levels in the home.

He said it's not a bad idea to test the detector once in a while to make sure it's in working order.

"You're never going to go wrong if you do it every week," he said.