OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — A silent, deadly killer.
"Odor-less, taste-less, color-less, so you don't even know," said Scott Fitzpatrick, battalion chief, Omaha Fire Department.
He's talking about carbon monoxide, which can be produced from several different utilities including furnaces, space heaters and even ovens.
"If you are going to run a generator, make sure it is outside, well-ventilated," he said. "If you are going to warm up your car, make sure it is outside well-ventilated. Not in the garage."
Omaha Fire said they typically see more carbon monoxide calls as temperatures cool. OFD recommends having your furnace checked now.
"Make sure that it is working properly, sometimes there are small cracks or anything like that, that can give off CO in the home," Fitzpatrick said.
"If your carbon monoxide detector goes off, call 911, let us know, come out and we'll have other detectors on our rigs that we carry, that make sure to measure the CO," Fitzpatrick said.
A carbon monoxide detector in your home would sound at level 9ppm or higher, and at this level Omaha Fire will investigate what the cause is. At 100ppm or more, symptoms from carbon monoxide exposure are immediately felt.
Omaha Fire said one way to know if you are experiencing symptoms is, "when you leave the house, you felt good, you felt better, everything kind of cleared up and when you came back you were kind of feeling the headache, the light-headed, things like that, that's a tell tale sign that you have something going on in the house as well," Fitzpatrick said.
Omaha Fire said carbon monoxide symptoms are flu-like and include headache, fatigue, dizzy spells, nausea, confusion and irritability.
The first step you should take is ensuring your home has a working detector. "At least one at the living areas, or at the bedroom levels," Fitzpatrick said.
Carbon monoxide detectors can be purchased at a hardware store. If you can't afford one and are a homeowner in Omaha city limits, the Omaha Fire Department has resources on their website, or you can call them at 402-444-3560 and they will come out and install one for you.
If you don't live in Omaha, check with your local department. They might have a similar program.
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