Oregon Family Suffers Carbon Monoxide Poisoning From Wood Stove

A family of six in Oregon suffered carbon monoxide poisoning Tuesday when their vented wood stove spewed out the deadly gas, according to OregonLive.com.

http://www.oregonlive.com/milwaukie/index.ssf/2012/09/milwaukie-area_family_survived.html

The home on Southeast Stanley Place in Milwaukie had an improperly vented stove, which caused the problem. The family had started a fire in the stove for the first time this year at about 6 a.m. because they were cold.

Unfortunately, the stove had a vent pipe that was too small “causing incomplete combustion in the stove’s firebox and  forcing carbon monoxide into the room,” according to OregonLive.com. The home then filled up with the gas.

The mother of the family developed a bad headache and became nauseous, and she heard an alarm in the house, the website said. She assumed it was a smoke alarm. but when it sounded a second time she realized it was a CO detector.

Firefighters came to the scene around 9 a.m., giving two children and two adults oxygen, according to OregonLive.com. The carbon monoxide level in the home was 100 parts per million, several times above safe levels.