East Lampeter Township, PA – A family escaped from their East Lampeter Township home Monday morning when a detector alerted them to high levels of carbon monoxide, an official said.
They are very lucky they had a CO detector, said David Keens, deputy chief of the Lafayette Fire Company.
The detector alarm woke the couple and their children shortly after 4 a.m. in their rented home at 1984 Old Philadelphia Pike, he said. They discovered a haze in the basement, so they evacuated and called for help.
The family did not feel sick, but were taken to the hospital to be checked out as a precaution, Keens said.
Firefighters measured high levels of carbon monoxide as soon as they entered the home.
Alarms sound when levels reach 35 parts per million, Keens said. The level was measured at 460 ppm in the basement.
A malfunctioning furnace caused the CO problem, he said.
Stumpf Properties owns the home.
Todd Stumpf of Stumpf Properties said the family that rents the home were checked out at the hospital and are all doing OK.
Repairs were being made to the home’s heating system Monday and the company will help the family with alternate living arrangements until repairs are completed, he said.
Carbon monoxide is an odorless, colorless gas produced when fossil fuels are burned.
At levels at about twice those measured at the East Lampeter home, CO can cause sudden illness and eventually death, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.