Rockville, MD – One person was found dead of apparent carbon monoxide poisoning Friday night at a house in Rockville, authorities said.
A second person, whose condition did not appear to be life-threatening, was taken from the house to a hospital, said Pete Piringer, a spokesman for the Montgomery County fire and rescue service.
Rescue personnel were sent to the house in the 300 block of Lawrence Drive after a medical emergency was reported there, Piringer said.
As soon as rescue personnel entered, he said, a carbon monoxide detector they carried issued an alert, he said.
Piringer said it indicated that an extremely high level of the gas was present, creating a hazard. The level might have been above 2,000 parts per million, he said.
Carbon monoxide is colorless and odorless, and results from the incomplete combustion of fuel.
Piringer said authorities thought that the carbon monoxide had been produced by a generator that was operating in the house.
It was not clear why the generator was being used indoors.
The name of the person who died was not immediately available Saturday.