First responders warn about carbon monoxide dangers in your home

Colorless, odorless gas is impossible to detect without sensing device

ROANOKE, Va. – First responders are encouraging you to take to steps to protect yourself from an invisible danger that may be in your home — carbon monoxide.

It's often called the silent killer.

"That carbon monoxide actually bonds to your blood and basically it suffocates you, so that's why people die in their sleep," Roanoke Fire-EMS community risk reduction specialist Tiffany Bradbury said.

From 2010 to 2015, more than 2,200 people died of unintentional carbon monoxide poisoning, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The colorless and odorless gas is impossible to detect unless you have a sensing device. But local experts said not everyone needs a CO detector.

"You only need one in your home if you have a gas furnace, gas dryer, gas hot water heater or oil, something that's going to have a fuel light for the combustion,” Bradbury said.

Leaks are caused by something that you likely have no idea is happening.

"Maybe you have a gas furnace and you've got a flue and some bricks have fallen down into it, so now all that gas that would be going up the chimney is now backing up into your home," Bradbury said.

Virginia law requires CO alarms in all newly built one- and two-bedroom homes.  It took effect in 2011, so those devices, with five- to seven-year lifespans, are getting ready to expire. This law doesn't apply to older homes, though, which experts said is troubling because many people in our area likely don't have the detectors.

You can buy them at most big box stores for under $20. Bradbury said that's a wise investment.

"You can't see it or smell it or taste it, so if you go to sleep, you might not wake up," Bradbury said.


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