Three people in Lenexa were transferred to the hospital this morning after unsafe levels of carbon monoxide filled their home in the 8100 block of Woodstone.
Lenexa Fire Captain Eric McClure said the residents called the gas company to check on an unrelated odor. The residents suspected a problem because two people inside the home had become especially sick and all three were nauseous.
The odor wasn't the carbon monoxide, which is odorless, but their instinct was right. The gas company arrived and called authorities about 5:30 a.m. after discovering carbon monoxide levels at 500 parts per million. McClure said the department considers levels at 100 parts per million to be potentially lethal. Firefighters and ambulance crews responded to the home to help treat the occupants, whose injuries were not considered to be life-threatening.
McClure said the call was a good reminder to homeowners to install at least one working carbon monoxide detector in their home. The detector should be upstairs or near a bedroom where it can be easily heard when someone is asleep.
He said that the Lenexa home was not equipped with a detector, but thankfully the homeowners woke up and recognized something was amiss.
"They were extremely lucky in that regard," McClure said.
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
