Firefighters get more calls about carbon monoxide

February 21, 2006

MARY AMES\Frontiersman reporter

MAT-SU - When a carbon monoxide detector sounded in his Palmer apartment about two weeks ago, Brandon Lawler called 911 and the Palmer Fire Department came out to investigate a possible leak.

Lawler and his girlfriend had been feeling sick since they moved into the apartment a month before, he said, and went to the hospital after the fire department found that the kitchen stove was leaking carbon monoxide. A doctor told Lawler and his girlfriend they showed signs of long-term exposure to carbon monoxide, or CO.

Lawler's experience was both typical and atypical of what happens when a CO detector goes off. He called 911 and the fire department came out. Less typical is the fact that the fire department found elevated levels of CO. The fire department called Enstar, which is typical, and Enstar found a source of the CO. Enstar employees said his kitchen stove wasn't burning well and needed to be fixed, he said.

Carbon monoxide forms from incomplete combustion of fossil fuels and replaces the oxygen in an enclosed area. CO is colorless, odorless and tasteless and, depending on the levels in an enclosed area, the gas can sicken you slowly or kill you quickly.

In 2004, after an entire family died in Anchorage from carbon monoxide poisoning, the state Legislature enacted a law that requires most buildings - including family houses, duplexes, apartments, dormitories and group homes - to have carbon monoxide detectors if there are appliances in the dwellings that use carbon-based fuel. The detectors are also required if there is an attached garage or a parking area adjacent to the building. The law went into effect Jan. 1, 2005, and it has changed the way calls about possible CO poisoning are handled.

Now, when a CO detector sounds an alarm, firefighters are first on the scene, and if they have the training, they will find the source.

&#8220Our call volume has gone way up,” said Dan Contini, Palmer fire chief. &#8220All of them have been kind of a warning level. We have one machine that cost $14,000, but nobody knows how to use it. We have the equipment, but we don't have the training.”

Last year, Central Mat-Su Fire Department went out on 80 calls initiated by CO detector alarms, according to Tara Mellon, education coordinator with the department. Out of the 80 calls, the fire department found elevated CO levels 21 times, she said. Twelve calls resulted from detectors that malfunctioned and 21 times, firefighters found elevated levels of CO.

&#8220We normally do whatever we can,” Mellon said. &#8220If we can't find the source ourselves, we contact Enstar. If we do find the source, we tell the people they need to call a certified repairman for the appliance. Many times, the source is the car running in the garage. It doesn't have to run very long to set the alarm off.”

So far this year, Central Mat-Su has gone out on 20 calls, found no CO on four calls and twice found the detectors not working, Mellon said.

While the fire departments are getting more calls, Enstar has received fewer.

&#8220In our business now, fire departments are first responders,” said Dan Deedy, northern division manager at Enstar. &#8220Our response is based on their request.”

Deedy said that like firefighters, Enstar employees still have to go out any time of the day or night when called.

Before state law required CO detectors, Enstar responded to 300 calls across the state, Deedy said. Last year, Enstar responded to 80, he said.

Although most of CO alarm calls have come from levels elevated briefly from a car running in a garage, a faulty alarm, or unknown causes, when there are elevated levels of CO, the alarms calls attention to the problem and it can be fixed.

&#8220It takes time to get up for an alarm at 2 a.m.,” Contini said. &#8220But you can't sleep if you know someone is in trouble.”

Contact Mary Ames at

352-2284 or mary.ames@

frontiersman.com.