Carbon Monoxide almost killed us

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We added interconnected smokes last year and were having problems with false alarms... turns out they all were not the same brand, and some brands dont play well with others. So in the process of making them all the same brand I made the one on the first floor a combo smoke/co, and also added a new combo in the basement.

Now I think I am going to have to change the one in the 2nd floor hallway to a combo too, as I thought the CO alarms would sound on ALL detectors, but it only sounds on ones that are combo units.
 
Matt...so did the fire dept determine the source of the CO? Don't leave us hanging brother.
 
^ Been days... they have not returned my phone call to tell me when they are coming. I am calling again today and if I don't get a phone call back I am calling the town supervisor.
 
OK thanks for the update...this is something that can't be neglected.
 
Matt, is this from your masonry heater, or do you also have a woodstove? Also, any update?
 
^ This is a masonary heater. I have no normal woodstove.

The fire department told me there is nothing they can do for me right now. If I get another alarm, call them asap and they will come up with a meter, figure out the source, and vent the house with some venting system they have.
 
gang , you guys know me and what i do , i talk to hundreds of new stove owners annually , one of the things i stress EVERY time i get an opening, do you have smoke and CO detectors in the home , are they current and functional, are you looking at new ones or to install them due to the new stove?

bottom line is , (and this is my direct quote) " i dont care what it burns, who built it, or how well its installed, SMOKE AND CO DETECTORS WILL SAVE YOUR LIFE, they are cheap and easily installed, even if they werent and werent, you flat out gotta have em!

BTW; Kudo's to our resident firefighters who have contributed to this thread, i want you to know i have learned from your posts and intend to copy the info given and include it in our CS handbooks. thanks a bunch for the info , and thanks for what you guys do for your community! be safe my friends
 
arcticcatmatt said:
^ This is a masonary heater. I have no normal woodstove.

The fire department told me there is nothing they can do for me right now. If I get another alarm, call them asap and they will come up with a meter, figure out the source, and vent the house with some venting system they have.

Speaking for the BFD where I work as a Fire Prevention Officer . . . getting the call right away is important (regardless of the time of day or day of the week -- after all we work holidays and get paid very well . . . well actually I don't since I'm a five-day-a-week guy but you get the idea) . . . I say it's important for the reason you listed -- it allows us to try to use the gas meter to narrow down the possible CO source . . . and then if need be we can vent it with a positive pressure fan.
 
^ Thanks.

I forgot to mention these guys are not paid and took weeks to return a phone call. The town supervisor.. well she never returned my email and has no phone number listed.

I live in a town with no water or septic with a population of 1,000. No store, no stop light :)

Hopefully if I have to call 911, the turnout will be different. He did tell me that if I do end up calling 911 about this, to tell them not to bring firetrucks and the whole 9 yards hah.
 
karl said:
I want some details.

How big is your house?

How big is your stove?

How tight of a house is it?

Did you guys have signs of CO poisoning? Head ache, yes. Blue finger nails? Drunk feeling or beligerant feeling?

I don't see how coals in a stove could reverse draft to the extent to fill a house up. Then again, I live in a house built in 1964, I would love for it to be tight enough to have that problem.


Not to be a wise ass but your nail beds will actually turn red with CO poisoning, but if you're red, you're dead, as the saying goes. Also nausea shortness of breath etc..If it gets really bad you need to go to a re-compression chamber an on pure O2 to get better, fresh air wont do jack. Blue nail beds generally comes from anoxia (sp?)
 
arcticcatmatt said:
^ Thanks.

I forgot to mention these guys are not paid and took weeks to return a phone call. The town supervisor.. well she never returned my email and has no phone number listed.

I live in a town with no water or septic with a population of 1,000. No store, no stop light :)

Hopefully if I have to call 911, the turnout will be different. He did tell me that if I do end up calling 911 about this, to tell them not to bring firetrucks and the whole 9 yards hah.

Yeah . . . definitely call 911 next time. If our small town FD gets a business call it may be on the answering machine for up to a week . . . vs. an immediate response if a call comes in on the 911 line . . . and my hometown is much like yours -- although we do have a grocery store and a blinking stop light . . . until recently (within the last few years) our entire county only had one actual stop light.
 
Some great replies from people who have been there. To add , and I repeat myself, if you have kids, even as old as 21, they will probably never hear any detectors go off. Be prepared to rescue them yourself. Rural Fire depts. usually will arrive to late even with the best efforts. If it is a fire, there is so much plastic in today's homes that Co is only one of a large assortment of gasses including cyanide which they now believe kills more people, including firefighters, the Co. Be careful and be safe.
Ed
 
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