Marmora, NJ – A home’s working carbon monoxide detector and the owner’s quick decision to evacuate may have saved a local family’s life, firefighters said this week.
The Marmora Volunteer Fire Company and Upper Township Division of EMS responded to a residence on the 200 block of N. Shore Road in Marmora around 8:30 a.m. Monday, Feb. 6 for a report of a carbon monoxide detector activation. The homeowner met firefighters when they arrived and told them the house had been evacuated and his carbon monoxide detector was sounding, according to a post on the company’s Facebook page.
The homeowner also said he felt there might be a problem with a recently installed gas heater.
Firefighters took carbon monoxide readings at the front door and found 150 ppm (parts per million), according to the release. They donned breathing apparatus to take further readings inside the house. Readings on the first floor of the residence reached 500 ppm. When firefighters went to check the heater in the basement, readings topped out over 1,300 ppm, according to the release.
Carbon monoxide levels that high can render people unconscious in minutes and lead to death, the fire company said.
Please make sure you have a working CO monitor in your home, the fire company said in the release. If it activates, immediately call 911 and evacuate the house. In this case the actions of the homeowner saved his and his family’s lives.