Coventry, RI – Six family members narrowly avoided tragedy, according to firefighters, after carbon monoxide leaked into a Coventry home overnight.
Western Coventry Fire District Captain Robert Mann says four adults and two children were hospitalized with carbon monoxide poisoning after one of the family members woke up feeling sick and alerted the rest. The house did not have carbon monoxide detectors, Mann said.
If this family had just shrugged it off and went to bed, I guarantee there would’ve been six fatalities this morning, Mann told Eyewitness News.
He said carbon monoxide levels reached 500 parts-per-million, which he described as a deadly range. The cause was determined to be an improperly installed water heater, which wasn’t venting the CO gas out of the house, according to Mann.
He said even though it can be expensive, homeowners should hire a professional to install appliances.
Call a licensed professional. Get the proper permits. These safeguards are in place for a reason, to make sure things are installed correctly, to make sure there’s inspections and to make sure they are safe, Mann explained.
He said homeowners should make sure smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors are installed and working, and can call their local fire department to check if they are working properly.
We’d rather come out in a non-emergency situation to answer questions than have something like this happen and have six people end up in the hospital, Mann added.
Eyewitness News spoke to the homeowner, who did not want to be identified but thanked firefighters for helping her family. She also said the family was buying carbon monoxide detectors.