Water Pump Causes Carbon Monoxide Death Again

Once again, a portable engine in a poorly ventilated place has caused carbon monoxide poisoning and death. This time, it was inside a gold mine in O’Neals, CA. See http://abclocal.go.com/kfsn/story?section=news/local&id;=6154061

According to ABC, “the bodies of brothers David and Matthew Alison from Prather and their cousin, Brannon Scharf of Madera, were discovered in an abandoned gold mine. The three had been pumping water out of a mine while searching for gold when they were overcome by carbon monoxide” from what has now been identified as water pump.

This time of year, we expected portable generators to start taking their CO toll, but expected to be because of power outages. But instead, our last two stories have been related to using a portable engine (like a pump or carpet cleaning machine) in enclosed areas like a mine or a garage.

If you are using a portable engine, it is imperative that you do so in a well ventilated area. Further, some type of CO detector must be used.