Milwaukie, OR – A family of six suffered carbon monoxide poisoning after lighting their woodstove for the first time this season.
Investigators said the woodstove inside the home had not been vented properly and carbon monoxide fumes quickly spread.
The mom, dad and their four young kids started feeling nauseous and getting headaches at about the time their CO alarms went off, according to Brandon Paxton with the Clackamas Fire Department.Then everyone safely got out of the house and the parents called 911.
When emergency crews arrived, the levels were over 100 parts per million in the room where the kids had been playing, Paxton said. This was about three times higher than levels which are usually considered to be safe.
The family was treated at the scene and doing okay.Crews were working to lower the levels so they could safely return inside the home, located on Southeast Stanley Place.
The parents had lit a fire in the woodstove around 6 a.m., for the first time of the season.They rent the home and did not realize the stove had problems, Paxton said.
He added that these types of problems often reveal themselves this time of year, as temperatures begin to drop.Paxton said it’s an important reminder to make sure your wood stove is working properly and recently cleaned.