Carbon monoxide can kill; check your furnace and detector

Cold weather is coming, along with reminders about safety

The high-pitched beeping from a carbon monoxide detector may annoy you.

But don’t unplug it or otherwise disable it, says South Lyon Fire Chief Joey Thorington.

South Lyon firefighters were called to the Colonial Acres senior citizen condominium complex last January on a report of an ill woman, who mentioned to her rescuers that her detector had gone off the night before and she unplugged it.

The building’s boiler malfunctioned and carbon monoxide levels were high, Thorington said.

About half a dozen residents were evacuated; no one was seriously injured.

But carbon monoxide can kill, Thorington said.

It’s odorless. And dangerous levels don’t always produce symptoms.

High levels can result in a headache, nausea, lightheadedness or skin that has a flushed appearance. But people might not attribute their illness to a carbon monoxide leak.

“We prefer a detector to human symptoms,” he said. “If you’re asleep, you might just not wake up.”

Carbon monoxide poisoning can come from anything that burns gas, such as a furnace, water heater, stove or generator.

The furnace should be inspected annually, and it’s a good idea to do it before the heating season begins.

All area fire departments have devices to measure the carbon monoxide levels in your home if you suspect a problem. They’d rather you call them instead of assuming the detector is malfunctioning, Thorington said.

A Rochester Hills couple died last November of carbon monoxide emitted from their furnace, the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office said.

Paul Louis Kamulski, 75, and Frances Kamulski, 74, were found unconscious and not breathing in their home in the 1100 block of East Avon Road. Attempts to revive the couple were unsuccessful.

Their daughter asked neighbors to check on them after she couldn’t reach them.

Firefighters detected carbon monoxide levels at 185 parts per million, more than twice the lethal amount of 85 parts per million, the Sheriff’s Office said.

Investigators found a carbon monoxide detector with its batteries removed on a basement table.

“We always encourage people to check their smoke detectors and their carbon monoxide detectors each time we change the clocks for daylight savings,” Sheriff Michael Bouchard said at the time.

Plug-in models can have a battery backup in case of a power outage, the Sheriff’s Office said.

Many area fire departments distribute smoke and carbon monoxide detectors for free and will even provide installation.