Placement of the detectors is key
QUINCY -- A viewer contacted us this week with something pretty unsettling.
Her home was full of deadly carbon monoxide, but neither of her two carbon monoxide detectors ever went off.
KHQA met with her today to share her story, and I also talked to the Quincy Fire Department to make sure *your* family stays safe.
"If we would've stayed in our house one more night with our windows closed up, we could have all expired," says Stacey Martin.
As you can imagine, that thought is pretty frightening for a mother of two. All four of the people in the house were showing signs of carbon monoxide poisoning.
"I had pressure in my head where it feels like someone is squeezing your head. I also had swollen glands and sore throat," explains Martin.
Other family members had headaches and flu like symptoms. Stacey says no one thought it was carbon monoxide poisoning because her detectors never went off.
"Don't buy a carbon monoxide detector on price. Do a little research. You can see some of them and what they are good for, when they alarm, don't buy the cheapest thing you can find," says Lt. Ralph Boden with the Quincy Fire Department.
Stacey says she did some research before she bought her detectors. She also says when she called a general contractor to check for a gas leak, he held her detector up near his head, and it went off. She's not sure why it didn't go off sooner.
"You're better off to have them mounted some place so they're not getting moved around. You don't want them close to the furnace room. You want them in an area that the air is clear all the time," adds Boden.
Boden says to make sure the carbon monoxide detector you buy has been tested by Underwriter's laboratory. It should have a UL logo on it somewhere.
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