Monroe Township, PA – State police confirmed Thursday afternoon that a Snyder County teenager died from carbon monoxide poisoning earlier this week while they await the cause of death for her father.
Jada Dawn Gillison, 15, died due to carbon monoxide exposure, police said. The cause of death for Donovan D. Gillison, 41, is still pending.
Their bodies were found inside their 946 Fisher Road home in Monroe Township on Tuesday afternoon, but they may have died a day earlier, police said.
State police spokesman Rick Blair said the Gillison home was not equipped with carbon monoxide detectors.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, carbon monoxide is an odorless, colorless gas that kills without warning.
About 400 people die in the United States each year from unintentional, non-fire-related carbon monoxide poisoning, the agency said.
State police Fire Marshal Kirk Renn said fatalities can be prevented by installing carbon monoxide detectors in households that use gas- and oil-burning furnaces, portable generators and other carbon-based fuels.
A leak in a heater or ventilation system can cause the gas to seep out and overcome occupants by prohibiting oxygen absorption, he said.
He said people overcome by the deadly gas often are unaware they are in danger because they may be sleeping or don’t recognize the flu-like symptoms associated with carbon monoxide exposure, which can include headache, disorientation, dizziness, confusion and chest pain.
“Knowing the symptoms is no substitute for a detector,” Renn said.
Blair said the Gillisons were not found in their beds.