La Crosse, WI – Steve and Jeanne Mueller of Westby believe they are alive today thanks to their investment in a carbon monoxide (CO) detector that warned the Muellers to evacuate their home on Sunday, April 14.
Jeanne purchased the talking CO detector on a whim five years ago while shopping. Since that time the detector has sat quietly on the fireplace mantle monitoring the CO levels in their home while the family was at home or at work.
On Friday, April 12, Steve was home for lunch when the CO detector began making noise. Ironically at the same time he received a telephone call from Dawn Haakenson at Midwest Gas, on an unrelated matter. The noise of the detector was annoying Steve, and Haakenson instructed him to replace the batteries. Worn out batteries is a common problem with CO detectors and smoke alarms that have been left unattended for long periods of time. Haakenson also reminded Steve to monitor the levels just in case the warning was real and call Vernon County Sheriff’s Department or Westby-Christiana Fire Department if the problem continued.
Steve changed the batteries and the CO detector stopped making noise so he finished lunch, left the house and didn’t think anymore about it. Once again the CO detector sat quietly on the fireplace mantle as the Mueller’s drifted off to sleep on Friday and went about their day on Saturday.
When Jeanne woke up on Saturday morning she had a slight headache, an uncommon occurrence for her, but one she attributed to the dreary weather and lack of sunshine. Steve was in and out of the house all day and although he also had a headache, he never mentioned it to his wife.
With a busy day ahead of them Jeanne remained inside the house most of the day on Saturday preparing for an overnight visit from their daughter, Linzi, her husband, Mike, and the Mueller’s 20-month-old granddaughter, Ava.
The family kept busy all day unaware that a silent killer was filling every inch of their home. Carbon monoxide (CO) is a deadly, colorless, odorless, tasteless, poisonous gas that is slightly lighter than air. CO gas is produced by the incomplete burning of various fuels, including coal, wood, charcoal, oil, kerosene, propane, and natural gas. It is toxic to humans and animals when encountered in higher concentration.
Looking back now, Steve and Jeanne were both exhibiting physical and mental signs of CO poisoning, but like many people they ignored the warnings and remained focus on the time they were going to be spending with family. At one point in the day, Jeanne was even struggling to put sentences together and was so tired she told her granddaughter she needed to take a nap.
Because CO is odorless, colorless, and otherwise undetectable to the human senses, people may not know that they are being exposed. The initial symptoms of low to moderate CO poisoning are similar to the flu, minus the fever.
Symptoms include:
Headache
Fatigue
Shortness of breath
Nausea
Dizziness
High level CO poisoning results in progressively more severe symptoms, including:
Mental confusion
Vomiting
Loss of muscular coordination
Loss of consciousness
Ultimately death
By the end of the day Jeanne and her daughter, Linzi, were feeling lightheaded; Ava was crying abnormally; and Steve and Mike both had headaches. Still, no one saw the warning signs and they proceeded to get ready for bed; a move that could have resulted in the death of five people if not for the CO detector on the fireplace mantle that went from quiet to cranky early Sunday morning.
At 12:30 a.m. on Sunday, April 14, Jeanne and Steve woke up in a daze to the sound of the CO detector warning them to evacuate the house. The recording in the detector was saying the house was filled withhigh levels of CO gas and anyone inside should get out immediately. Initially, theMueller’s tried to silence the CO detector, fearing it would wake up the rest of the family sleeping in the house.
Steve figured the batteries he had installed just a couple of days earlier might have been out of date, but as Jeanne tried to open the battery compartment she noticed the levels of gas being detected were on the rise and became genuinely concerned. Still not convinced there was a real danger, they replaced the batteries a second time and waited 45 minutes longer for the CO detector to recalibrate, at which time the voice returned warning the family to evacuate again.
Fearing a real danger, the Mueller’s opened a few windows and the family had taken refuge in vehicles outside the structure. They called the sheriff’s department at approximately1:30 a.m. and soon after Westby-Christiana Fire Chief Gilbert Turben and Chief 2 Monte Nestingen arrived with equipment to monitor the actual CO levels in the 12-year-old structure.
The fire department’sCO monitor immediately began to rise as they entered the first level of the house. A safe level of CO in a home is from .01 to .03 parts per million (ppm). The main level of the Mueller home registered .39 ppm, triggering immediate danger, and the lower level of the house registered .58 ppm., which Turben said is deadly. Turben and Nestingen were both surprised to see the levels as high as they were in the Mueller house and ordered everyone out.
Turben stressed the importance of installing and then listening to the warnings that CO and smoke detectors provide and not to wait until it’s too late to call for help.
We never thought it would happen to us. This was very scary and very real. I know even after we return home I’ll have a fear of this happening again, but I will definitely feel safer with a CO detector on all levels of the house, Jeanne said.
The Mueller’s have spent the last week staying at a motel in Westby while their furnace is being replaced and until the CO levels in their home are back to a normal range.
This was definitely a wake-up call. The furnace had been acting up lately, but I never dreamed something like this could happen, Steve said.
Physically and mentally the Mueller’s had all the signs and symptoms of CO poisoning, but it never registered and if it hadn’t been for that CO detector, which sat quietly on the fireplace mantle for so many years,five body bags would have had to have been removed from their house on Monday morning, April 15, when someone questioned why they didn’t show up at work and checked their home.
On average, about 170 people in the United States die every year from CO produced by non-automotive consumer products. These products include malfunctioning fuel-burning appliances such as furnaces, ranges, water heaters and room heaters; engine-powered equipment such as portable generators; fireplaces; and charcoal that is burned in homes and other enclosed areas.
In the event that a CO detector alarm sounds in your home you should:
Immediately move outside to fresh air.
Call your emergency services, fire department, or 911.
After calling 911, do a head count to check that all persons are accounted for. Never re-enter the premises until the emergency services responders have given you permission.
If the source of the CO is determined to be a malfunctioning appliance, do not operate that appliance until it has been properly serviced by trained personnel.
Purchasing a CO detector is definitely worth the investment, we’re living proof, Jeanne said.
A CO detector should be installed in the hallway outside the bedrooms on each sleepinglevel of the home. They may be installed into a plug-in receptacle or high on the wall. Hard wired or plug-in CO detectors should have battery backup. Avoid locations that are near heating vents or that can be covered by furniture or draperies. CO detectors should not be installed in kitchens or above fuel-burning appliances.