Carbon Monoxide (CO) Safety
Any burning fuel such as gas, oil, kerosene, wood, or charcoal creates carbon monoxide (CO) gas.
What is carbon monoxide?
Each year hundreds of people die from carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning. Many of these deaths could have been prevented by installing CO alarms in the home. CO is an invisible, odorless gas that is produced by burning wood, charcoal, natural gas, gasoline, propane, oil, methane, and other common fuels.
CO is also produced by automobiles and other gasoline or diesel engines. Electrical equipment does not produce carbon monoxide.
CO enters the body, undetected, through your breathing. CO poisoning can be confused with the flu, food poisoning, or other illness. Symptoms include headache, nausea, dizziness, lightheadedness, or shortness of breath.
High levels of CO can cause death within just a few minutes. A person can be poisoned by a small amount of CO over a longer period of time or by a large amount of CO over a shorter amount of time.
Carbon monoxide alarms are not substitutes for smoke alarms. Know the difference between the sound of a smoke alarm and the sound of a CO alarm.
Install carbon monoxide alarms in your home.
CO alarms can be battery-powered, plugged into an outlet, or hardwired into a home's electrical system. Buy only CO alarms that bear the label of an independent testing laboratory. Install a CO alarm outside your home's sleeping areas. If sleeping areas are spaced far apart, each area will need a CO alarm.
When you hear the sound of a CO alarm
If the CO warning signal sounds, immediately go to a fresh air location and call 911. Port Ludlow Fire & Rescue will come and investigate your problem for you using air monitoring equipment. Stay at the fresh air location until emergency personnel tell you it is safe. If the trouble signal sounds, check for low batteries or other problems.
Reducing CO Risk
When you are buying home heating or cooking equipment, purchase only products that bear the label of an independent testing laboratory. Have all fuel-burning appliances (furnaces, stoves, space heaters, dryers, and water heaters) professionally installed and maintained.
If you need to warm a vehicle, remove it from the garage immediately after starting it. Do not run a vehicle, generator, or other fueled engine or motor indoors, even if garage doors are open. Make sure the exhaust pipe of a running vehicle is not covered with snow.
Never use an oven to heat your home. Make sure your wood or coal-burning stove is properly ventilated directly into the chimney flue. Be sure the chimney flue is fully open when you use your fireplace. Have all chimneys cleaned and inspected once a year.
Have your fuel-burning home heating system (fireplaces, furnaces, water heaters, wood and coal stoves) - including the flue - inspected by a professional before each heating season.
Keep dryer, stove, furnace, and fireplace vents clear of ice, snow, dirt, leaves, and other debris.
As always, never hesitate to call Port Ludlow Fire & Rescue to discuss any fire and health safety concerns that you have. Our dedicated and professional staff loves to be involved in making our community a safer place to live, work, and play.