Sometimes, I just wished more people could read our warnings about the risk of carbon monoxide exposure. What I have come to learn about carbon monoxide and the news, if there is a big storm that knocks out power, someone will die because of the way they compensate for the absence of electricity.
After torrential rain and winds knocked out electricity in many parts of New Jersey this weekend, a Carteret, N.J. man was killed by carbon monoxide fumes from a generator he was using because he was without power. http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/03/carteret_man_is_found_dead_in.html
The 49-year-old man, whose name wasn’t released, was discovered dead Saturday sitting on a couch in the basement of a Pine Street home. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Residents at that address had been using a portable generator because they had lost power due to the Northeaster storm. But one of the residents called police shortly after noon Saturday to report that some of his family members were sick and that a family friend was unconscious in the basement.
When firefighters and police arrived at the home, a married couple with two children were outside the home. They were taken to Raritan Bay Medical Center for treatment.
In the basement, the responders smelled the odor of gasoline and found the generator. It had been turned off. All the windows in the basement were closed.
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