MONROE COUNTY, Pa. — Fire officials in Monroe County want to remind people to check their carbon monoxide detectors as they turn the dial to heat their homes.
"With the CO in the house, you can't smell it. Not like fire and smoke. You know you're not going to smell it. So we've had people where they've passed out," Jeffrey Weiss, President of the West End Fire Company says.
He says the detectors are designed to warn you of any unusual build-up of Carbon Monoxide in your home.
Firefighters say they receive calls every week for carbon monoxide alarms going off.
Allentown's Happy Smiles Learning Center was evacuated Tuesday after air quality detectors worn by firefighters were triggered. A carbon monoxide leak set off the triggers. Investigators say the leak was caused by a malfunctioning heating unit and a blocked venting system. They noted the building did not have carbon monoxide detectors.
Weiss says to make sure you replace the batteries in your carbon monoxide detectors since false alarms can go off due to dead batteries.
"We had a call, you know, a couple of weeks ago where there were 27 individuals at a house, having a party, and the indoor pool was causing the CO to fill up into the house and got there, and a couple of people were laying in the yard and things like that so, it's important to have that CO detector and know that it works," Weiss says.
Whether you have a boiler or a furnace, fire officials stress you should have a working carbon monoxide detector.
"Making sure the batteries are up to date. Now you can buy ones that are 5-10 years lives, and you don't have to worry about changing the batteries. Just understanding when you put those in and when the date is that those are going to run out, so you need to replace them," Weiss says.
A simple reminder can save a life.
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