Spearfish Fire Department seeing spike in cases of Carbon Monoxide poisoning
Due to the difficulty of seeing the signs of the gas, fire department officials say that it's a good idea to purchase carbon monoxide detectors for your home.
SPEARFISH, S.D. — The Spearfish Fire Department is saying that they’ve seen a rise in series Carbon Monoxide poisoning cases.
The fire department says that over the last few months, they’ve been called to three to four more serious calls where people have been transported to the Spearfish hospital.
Due to the difficulty of seeing the signs of the gas, fire department officials say that it’s a good idea to purchase carbon monoxide detectors for your home.
“It just consumes you and then there’s a problem and a lot of people don’t know what’s going on,” said Spearfish Fire Chief Travis Ladson. “They don’t know the symptoms, the signs and so that’s all we want to see. You know, if every level could have a carbon monoxide detector just to protect your family and your loved ones.”
Chief Ladson also says that a big culprit with calls is water heaters or vents not correctly cleaned, which can lead to a build up of the gas.
“That’s what we see most of the time,” Chief Ladson said. “That’s probably our biggest culprits. You know, if we get an ice storm with a lot of snow and maybe we get some ice and vents are plugged and it’s not venting properly or coming out of the water heater or the boiler or the furnace. Something like the flu is cracked and it’s open, so it’s bleeding into their residences. That’s what we see.”
Chief Ladson says that if you smell large amounts of any type of gas at any time in your home, you should leave the structure.
For more information on Carbon Monoxide Poisoning, click here.
