Coon Rapids, MN – A Coon Rapids man was taken to the hospital early Monday morning for treatment of carbon monoxide poisoning.
The Coon Rapids Fire Department received a call about 1:30 a.m. Nov. 25 of carbon monoxide detectors sounding on both sides of a twin home at 1407 and 1415 109th Avenue.
Arriving at 1407 109th Ave., from where the residents had made the call, the fire department found the carbon monoxide with its detector to be 80 parts per million.
It’s supposed to be zero, said Coon Rapids Fire Chief John Piper.
Doors and windows were opened to ventilate the twin home, then the residents were allowed back in.
But firefighters suspected the original of the carbon monoxide was next door at 1415.
According to Fire Inspector Greg Leciejewski, firefighters knocked on the door and were able to get the attention of the occupant, who was housesitting for his son.
When he came to the door, he was very confused, Leciejewski said.
He told us the last thing he remembered was watching ‘Sunday Night Football’.
An ambulance was called and he was taken to Hennepin County Medical Center, which has a hyperbaric chamber, for treatment.
Fire officials did not have an update on the man’s condition.
Carbon monoxide readings inside the twin home were 550 parts per million, Leciejewski said.
That’s significant, Piper said.
Windows and doors were opened to ventilate the home and firefighters checked the furnace, water heater and clothes dryer, but no increases in carbon monoxide were detected when the appliances were operated, according to Leciejewski.
While firefighters were unable to pinpoint the exact source of the carbon monoxide, they suspect it might have come from a vehicle that was parked outside the garage if it had been left running for any length of time, Leciejewski said.
There was no vehicle inside the attached garage and the carbon monoxide levels were less in the garage than in the residence, he said.
This is an excellent example why everyone should have a working carbon monoxide detector and react appropriately if it goes off by calling 911, Piper said.
Detectors should be replaced every 10 years, he said.