Carbon County, PA – A man’s quick thinking inside a Franklin Township home may have prevented a tragedy. Firefighters say the unidentified man called 9-1-1 Saturday after he and another woman started feeling sick. When authorities arrived, they say they found dangerously high levels of carbon monoxide throughout the house. Both the woman and man were taken to a hospital.
“When the cop left here, he said he was in really bad shape, said Bill Dorward. Dorward lives nearby and says some of his neighbors are shaken up after what happened. Dorward has a gravity fed oil stove and checks his carbon monoxide detector a couple times a year.
“I think it’s more important having that than a fire alarm. I think it’s more deadly because you can’t smell it. You can’t detect it, said Dorward.
That’s why some call it the silent killer. Carbon Monoxide is found in fumes produced from burning fossil fuels, like oil, gas and coal and can build up indoors.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning include headaches, dizziness and vomiting. The Wilkes-Barre Fire Department says they get called out to C.O. related incidents all year round, but they tend to rise at the start of the heating season.
“A lot of them are problems with a heating appliance and we end up having to take measure to fix the problem,” said Assistant Chief Damian Lendacky with the Wilkes-Barre Fire Department.
Officials stress the importance of having your gas oil or coal burning appliances serviced by qualified technicians.
There is no word on whether the Franklin Township couple had a C.O. detector inside the home.
The condition of both victims is unknown at this time.