Baltimore, MD – Five residents of an Edgewood apartment were treated at the scene after complaining of carbon monoxide exposure Thursday evening, according to the responding fire company.
Members of the Joppa-Magnolia Volunteer Fire Company were alerted around 5:20 p.m. and responded to the apartment building in the 1800 block of Edgewater Drive in the Edgewater Village community, according to the fire company’s Facebook page.
Firefighter Andrew Doyle said the residents of the apartment, which included two adults and three children, called 911 after their carbon monoxide detector went off.
The source for the carbon monoxide was the apartment’s stove, according to the fire company’s Facebook page. Fire company members treated the five people at the scene.
Doyle said no one was evacuated from the building.
Carbon monoxide is a deadly gas produced by burning natural gas or other fuels that contain carbon. A person who inhales a significant amount of the gas can be “overcome” in a matter of minutes, lose consciousness and be suffocated, according to an Occupational Safety and Health Administration fact sheet.
About 500 people die and 15,000 are hospitalized each year in the U.S. from carbon monoxide exposure, according to the Environmental Protection Agency’s website.
The agency offers the following tips, under the acronym ICANB:
Install CO alarms near sleeping areas.
Check heating systems and fuel-burning appliances annually.
Avoid the use of non-vented combustion appliances
Never burn fuels indoors except in devices such as stoves or furnaces that are made for safe use.
Be Attentive to possible symptoms of CO poisoning.
HAZMAT incident
Two members of the Harford County Hazardous Materials [HAZMAT] Response Team responded to an incident in the Darlington area, also Thursday evening.
Robert Thomas, spokesman for the county’s Department of Emergency Services, declined to provide further details Thursday, noting it was an “active incident,” but said more information would be forthcoming.