Harker Heights, TX – Four people are in good condition after getting carbon monoxide poisoning from a running car in their garage. Harker Heights Fire responded to a home on Moosehide Rd., just after 7 a.m. Friday morning on a report of three people feeling sick and one unconscious person. All four were taken to Seton Hospital in Harker Heights for treatment.
“When we get the call they are calling for one child not feeling well and being hard to arouse which is common, and we get there we find people that aren’t acting appropriately that we feel the way they should be,” Harker Heights Deputy Fire Chief Glenn Gallenstein said.
Authorities say a car had been left running in an attached garage, and carbon monoxide began to spread throughout the house. Fire officials say the car was a “push-to-start” and didn’t have a key in the ignition. They believe the car ran for several hours until it shut off on its own. They say the car was still warm and the garage was full of exhaust when they arrived to the home.
“This could have been easily a fatality. This could have been easily four fatalities. If one of them didn’t wake the others up and get out and wait a few more hours to get out. It could have been a few more people dying very easily,” Gallenstein said.
Carbon monoxide levels in the house were 1,000 parts per million. Levels over 35 parts per million are considered dangerous. A fire department spokesman says that more than 150 people die a year in the U.S. from carbon monoxide poisoning.
“That’s why it’s called the silent killer. You don’t smell nothing. There is no taste or anything like that it is odorless. You go to sleep and slowly but surly as you are breathing at night those levels build up, build up and then you just die” Gallenstein said.
The home was ventilated, and fire officials say the home is safe to live in.