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Red Cross Warns of Carbon Monoxide Poisoning

By Katie Wiedemann

As the bitter cold continues, so does the risk for deadly carbon monoxide poisoning.

Fuel-powered heaters give off the odorless gas, which can build up in homes that are sealed tight for the winter.

Kim Schwartz remembers the night a tiny detector caught something big.

Schwartz said, "I was watching it go up 11, 12, 13 and it kept going."

Last year carbon monoxide from her heating and cooling system filled the home the same night her two nieces were sleeping over.

Schwartz said, "It would have easily built up inside the house. I could have died; my husband and my sister would have lost her children."

The American Red Cross is urging families to buy a CO detector and try to keep the chemical from getting inside their homes.

Emily Szeszycki of the Red Cross said, "You want to get your furnace checked every year. You want to make sure that when you are starting your car in the morning, you don't run it inside of a closed garage, and drive your car all the way to the end of the driveway.”

If you bake with a gas oven, the Environmental Protection Agency says you should never use it to heat your kitchen, not even for just a few minutes.

Schwartz said, "It's very comforting to look at it every night and know that it's the same.”

While Schwartz's emergency could have been much worse, she still checks her detector for a clear report every night.

Some symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning are headache, fatigue, shortness of breath, nausea and dizziness.

Carbon monoxide detectors sell for $20 to $50 at local hardware stores.
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