Lansing, MI – A family of eight ended up in the hospital with Carbon monoxide poisoning early Sunday morning.
That’s after firefighters say they lost power and tried to heat their home with a gas oven.
It happened around 1 a.m. on Sunday in the northwest section of Lansing.
Firefighters say one by one, people started reporting flu-like symptoms. Medics figured out something was wrong and had an engine company test the air.
Carbon monoxide is a colorless, odorless gas. That’s why most people don’t realize something is wrong until they start getting sick.
There are carbon monoxide detectors for sale. They’re similar to smoke detectors.
There’s information on carbon monoxide poisoning and gas appliances from the Centers for Disease Control here.
And while this incident happened because of a gas oven, carbon monoxide poisonings are more commonly associated with generators.
Michigan has a tip sheet on generators and carbon monoxide poisoning here.