Watch for carbon monoxide danger as winter begins

Newscasts made it clear that Cape Cod and South Shore communities bore the brunt of last week’s nor’easter, to which another 24 hours of wind and rain over the weekend added insult to injury.

With power knocked out for days, harried residents turned to generators for electricity.

Unfortunately, one byproduct of mobile generators, carbon monoxide, can include incapacitating — even lethal — consequences for homeowners.

An odorless, colorless, tasteless gas, carbon monoxide can cause headaches, nausea, dizziness, confusion, fainting, unconsciousness and death.

Reports of a few carbonmonoxide-generated close calls during the post-nor’easter recovery period should serve as a reminder for anyone contemplating employing that stop-gap method of power.

According to the Associated Press, generators produced dangerously high levels of carbon monoxide at three homes in Brockton and Hanson.

Fortunately, firefighters in both communities reached those homes before residents experienced serious carbonmonoxide symptoms. All those stricken were taken to the hospital as a precaution.

With winter approaching, these incidents at least shine a spotlight on carbon-monoxide poisoning at an appropriate time.

Because with the onset of winter comes the potential for tragic home-heating accidents involving that silent killer.

Around this time two years ago, the newspaper detailed how one such tragedy was avoided, thanks to a functioning carbon-monoxide detector

owell firefighters responded to a CO alarm activation in a three-story residence in the Pawtucketville section of the city. According to then-Fire Chief Jeffrey Winward, levels of that dangerous gas required firefighters to don self-contained breathing apparatuses for their safety.

In the residence’s basement, they found a corroded vent pipe from the furnace to the chimney that allowed the colorless, odorless substance to escape.

The 10 occupants inside the home, some of whom were asleep at the time, were all immediately evacuated.

A crew from National Grid red-tagged the furnaces and hot water heaters in the building’s basement, forcing residents to find other places to stay.

“This is a great example of why people must have working carbon-monoxide alarms on each floor of their homes,” Winward told the newspaper. “If not for the CO alarm, this event could have had a tragic ending.”

While this near tragedy occurred in Lowell, it’s a lesson for all homeowners, renters and landlords to heed.

Especially at this time, when previously idle heating systems begin to fire up, it’s imperative that your home has both functioning furnaces and CO detectors.

National Grid recommends all homeowners have their chimney and any fuel-burning appliances, such as furnaces, stoves and fireplaces, checked by a qualified professional at least once a year.

State law, commonly known as Nicole’s Law, requires carbon-monoxide detectors in most residences. Its namesake, Nicole Garofalo, died in January 2005 when snow drifts blocked a heating vent in her home.

According to National

Grid, CO poisoning is the No. 1 cause of accidental poisoning in the U.S., with an average of more than 450 deaths per year from this stealthy killer.

Aside from heating-system failures and improperly operated generators, CO poisoning can also occur by letting a motor vehicle run inside a closed garage, or when using an oven to heat your home.

Renters shouldn’t hesitate to contact your landlord or apartment complex manager if you suspect your heating system or detectors aren’t up to code.

If you’re a homeowner, make sure your CO detectors are in working condition.

And if you don’t have any, get them installed immediately.

It’s a small price to pay for your safety.