CO Poisoning, Eleven People Overcome
(Prince George's County, MD) -- The Fire Chief in Prince George's County, Maryland, is warning about the dangers of using gas-powered generators indoors. Fire Chief Eugene Jones says it's "as dangerous as you can get" and must stop immediately. For two straight days, the fire department's been called to homes with extremely high levels of carbon monoxide due to gas generators inside the homes. They were being used because of power outages from the snowstorm. Eleven people with symptoms of CO poisoning were taken to area hospitals from the incidents in Landover Hills Saturday and Oxon Hill Sunday. Firefighters testing the air in the homes detected readings of at least 200 parts-per-million. Prolonged exposure at that level will lead to serious illness and death. A reading in the 35-to-40 range is considered unhealthy. |