Blanche and Charles Bousquet said the alarm sounded two weeks ago after they turned their furnace on for the first time this fall.
``It saved our lives,'' said Charles Bousquet. The couple called the Montpelier Fire Department, which responded with a fire truck and ambulance and found a low level of carbon monoxide, but could not nail down its source.
An inspection revealed the boiler on their furnace had rusted out.
Alive to tell their story, Blanche Bousquet said she wanted to get the word out on the importance of having carbon monoxide detectors in the home.
``We just thought people out there should be aware,'' she said.
Local and state fire officials agree.
The latest state report shows fire departments responded to 490 carbon monoxide-related calls between 2001 and 2003, five of which resulted in deaths, said Robert Howe, assistant state fire marshal.
Nationwide, carbon monoxide sends 10,000 people to hospital emergency rooms for treatment each year and claims more than 200 lives, according to federal statistics.
Montpelier Deputy Fire Chief Gesualdo Schneider described carbon monoxide as an invisible, odorless gas released during what he called ``incomplete combustion.''
Schneider said carbon monoxide poisoning from heating units is most common in the spring and fall when outside air is warmer than winter temperatures and chimneys do not vent as well.
The Bousquets had turned their furnace on one evening this fall to take the chill out of the air, shut it down for the night and then turned it on again in the early morning. It was then that the basement carbon monoxide detector alerted them to the problem.
