Grand Junction, CO – It’s called the silent killer – carbon monoxide deaths are usually un-foreseen, but they can be prevented.
While there has only been one death in Mesa County from carbon monoxide in the past five years, an accident can occur at any time.
Carbon monoxide from a camp stove burning in a tent recently killed a father and son on July 16th near Aspen.
Peak camping season is in full swing – the time when people will be taking their campers, RV’s and tents, and hitting the road. With that come generators, propane lights and stoves, making the chance of carbon monoxide poisoning even greater.
RV owner and Junction West RV Park’s Mari Garland’s family had a close call. Their RV ran out of battery and they decided to use a Coleman propane lantern for light.
My family said they got sleepy really early that night, and in hindsight we realized oh my gosh that was producing carbon monoxide, said Garland. If they’d left it on it would have been producing carbon monoxide all night.”
Garland and her husband now take extra caution when camping and using their RV.
“When we’re using the stove, even though it has an overhead hood vent, it doesn’t vent to the outside, said Garland. So we make sure that we have another vent or multiple windows open.
Carbon monoxide is an odorless, colorless gas, making it nearly impossible to detect, and all the more dangerous.
“It actually attaches to your hemoglobin to your blood, and what it’ll do, where oxygen would normally attach, it competes with it, so it literally makes it so you’re not getting oxygen in your body, said Grand Junction Fire Department’s Derek Trombetta.
Trombetta says that any time that something has a flame, and it’s not burning completely pure, it is emitting carbon monoxide
“The number one thing is you want to make sure their operating properly, if there’s anything not operating like it should, you shouldn’t use it, said Trombetta. Make sure it’s in a well ventilated area. You wouldn’t want a generator or a camp stove or something like that in an enclosed atmosphere.
Most RV’s don’t have a carbon monoxide alarm, but rather, a propane leak alarm. Trombetta recommends having a portable one before traveling anywhere.
“Maybe it’s one of your steps before you go camping is your carbon monoxide alarm, you test it, said Trombetta. Ultimately it’s going to be your safety and your family’s safety.