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direct venting
John McArthur_2
Member Posts: 157
This is today's Boston Globe about a CO poisoing death.
Girl's death spurs effort on safety
By Michael Levenson, Globe Correspondent | February 4, 2005
As her parents hold a funeral today for 7-year-old Nicole Garofalo, the victim of carbon monoxide poisoning, legislators and state fire officials are galvanizing efforts to prevent a similar tragedy from occurring.
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Plymouth legislators are drafting a bill to require that carbon monoxide detectors be installed in every home and to revise building codes to ensure safer placement of exhaust vents for heating devices. The state fire marshal has assembled a task force of fire officials to draft a plan aimed at preventing another poisoning, he said.
Even before the Jan. 28 death of Nicole , the dangers of carbon monoxide filling homes due to exhaust vents blocked by snow had come to the attention of state Fire Marshall Stephen D. Coan.
Mashpee firefighters, who were called to several houses with elevated levels of the gas during a December snowstorm, brought the issue to him, Coan said. "I'm concerned about the number of incidents we have seen in the last few weeks.
"We need to take steps to avoid these incidents," he said, adding that new regulations or legislation is needed.
The Garofalos' ordeal began the Monday following the weekend blizzard that started the afternoon of Jan. 22 and pummeled Plymouth with 3 feet of snow. Outside their home, drifts piled 4 feet high and eventually blocked a vent from a propane-fired boiler, according to investigators.
Their house filled with colorless, odorless, and lethal carbon monoxide.
When Mark Garofalo, a state highway worker, returned from an overnight shift at 10 a.m., he found his pregnant wife, Christine, and his children, Nicole, and Ryan, 11, unconscious in their beds. Christine recovered, but her pregnancy terminated. Ryan also recovered, but Nicole died last Friday. The unborn baby was to have been named Adam.
In town, the shock of Nicole's death has caused anxiety among parents and sparked discussions about dangers posed by carbon monoxide. Many in town are shaken and angry, saying that Nicole would be alive today if vent codes took into account New England's fierce winter snowstorms.
Christina Gilmore, who was waiting outside Nicole's school, Indian Brook Elementary, to pick up her son Wednesday afternoon, said many were talking about the safety issue. "Why is it that homes are allowed to be built that way, in New England?" she asked.
Gilmore wiped away tears as she spoke. "To allow that code, it doesn't make sense," she said. "And honestly, I really hope something comes out of it; otherwise her life was wasted."
State Senator Therese Murray and Representative Viriato deMacedo, both of Plymouth, said they have met with state fire officials and local firefighters who are examining the circumstances of Nicole's death and are awaiting their recommendations for a bill.
<B>The bill could mandate carbon monoxide detectors in every home, rewrite codes to move home heating vents higher off the ground, or require detectors in vents that would automatically shut off a heater if triggered,</B>deMacedo said.
The drive for a bill came first from a shaken rescuer who called deMacedo after pulling the family out on stretchers through the snow, he said. "They were very adamant about the fact that something has to be done here," DeMacedo said.
Coan said his task force of fire chiefs, state regulators, and national fire safety officials has been charged with drafting a prevention plan within 10 days.
State regulations require only that vents be positioned 12 inches off the ground, Coan said, though some manufacturers recommend placing them higher in snowy regions.
The hot exhaust from some home heaters can melt snow, but some efficient, low-energy models, like the one in the Garofalos' home, emit colder exhaust.
Debbie Nicholson, who was waiting Wednesday for her 9-year-old outside Indian Brook School said parents in Plymouth have been buying up detectors since Nicole's death.
"I know three other families that have since gone out and bought CO detectors for every room in the house," she said.
At the school, the US flag has been flying at half-staff, counselors have met with students, and classes for the 700 children in kindergarten through fourth grade started earlier this week with moments of silence. Nicole was a second-grader at Indian Brook, in a class of 23 students.
"When you hear about the tragedies of a high school kid because of a car accident, you hear them so often, you're awestruck by it, but you're not surprised, because it happens, and we know it's always going to happen," said Daniel Harold, principal of Indian Brook School. "But when a 7-year-old dies in this manner, it's a different thing to deal with."
In school, Harold said he tried to strike a balance between comfort and alarmism.
Outside the Garofalo house, next to a basketball hoop in the driveway, the porch fluttered with a patchwork of homemade memorials. A classmate's portrait of herself and Nicole, a "prayer of Nicole and Adam," and a banner proclaiming, "Garofalo Family, We are Praying For You," flapped in the wind.
A yellow sign taped to their red front door declared the house "unfit for human occupancy," per order of the Building Department.
Mark and Christine Garofalo could not be reached, and a relative said by phone they did not want to speak to the news media.
Martin Enos, Plymouth's deputy fire chief, expressed hope that Nicole's death would spur more people to install detectors in their homes.
"We have to do something similar to what was done with smoke detectors 20 years ago," Enos said. "We're hoping that will at least trickle down from all of this. Time will tell."
© Copyright 2005 Globe Newspaper Company.
Girl's death spurs effort on safety
By Michael Levenson, Globe Correspondent | February 4, 2005
As her parents hold a funeral today for 7-year-old Nicole Garofalo, the victim of carbon monoxide poisoning, legislators and state fire officials are galvanizing efforts to prevent a similar tragedy from occurring.
ADVERTISEMENT
Plymouth legislators are drafting a bill to require that carbon monoxide detectors be installed in every home and to revise building codes to ensure safer placement of exhaust vents for heating devices. The state fire marshal has assembled a task force of fire officials to draft a plan aimed at preventing another poisoning, he said.
Even before the Jan. 28 death of Nicole , the dangers of carbon monoxide filling homes due to exhaust vents blocked by snow had come to the attention of state Fire Marshall Stephen D. Coan.
Mashpee firefighters, who were called to several houses with elevated levels of the gas during a December snowstorm, brought the issue to him, Coan said. "I'm concerned about the number of incidents we have seen in the last few weeks.
"We need to take steps to avoid these incidents," he said, adding that new regulations or legislation is needed.
The Garofalos' ordeal began the Monday following the weekend blizzard that started the afternoon of Jan. 22 and pummeled Plymouth with 3 feet of snow. Outside their home, drifts piled 4 feet high and eventually blocked a vent from a propane-fired boiler, according to investigators.
Their house filled with colorless, odorless, and lethal carbon monoxide.
When Mark Garofalo, a state highway worker, returned from an overnight shift at 10 a.m., he found his pregnant wife, Christine, and his children, Nicole, and Ryan, 11, unconscious in their beds. Christine recovered, but her pregnancy terminated. Ryan also recovered, but Nicole died last Friday. The unborn baby was to have been named Adam.
In town, the shock of Nicole's death has caused anxiety among parents and sparked discussions about dangers posed by carbon monoxide. Many in town are shaken and angry, saying that Nicole would be alive today if vent codes took into account New England's fierce winter snowstorms.
Christina Gilmore, who was waiting outside Nicole's school, Indian Brook Elementary, to pick up her son Wednesday afternoon, said many were talking about the safety issue. "Why is it that homes are allowed to be built that way, in New England?" she asked.
Gilmore wiped away tears as she spoke. "To allow that code, it doesn't make sense," she said. "And honestly, I really hope something comes out of it; otherwise her life was wasted."
State Senator Therese Murray and Representative Viriato deMacedo, both of Plymouth, said they have met with state fire officials and local firefighters who are examining the circumstances of Nicole's death and are awaiting their recommendations for a bill.
<B>The bill could mandate carbon monoxide detectors in every home, rewrite codes to move home heating vents higher off the ground, or require detectors in vents that would automatically shut off a heater if triggered,</B>deMacedo said.
The drive for a bill came first from a shaken rescuer who called deMacedo after pulling the family out on stretchers through the snow, he said. "They were very adamant about the fact that something has to be done here," DeMacedo said.
Coan said his task force of fire chiefs, state regulators, and national fire safety officials has been charged with drafting a prevention plan within 10 days.
State regulations require only that vents be positioned 12 inches off the ground, Coan said, though some manufacturers recommend placing them higher in snowy regions.
The hot exhaust from some home heaters can melt snow, but some efficient, low-energy models, like the one in the Garofalos' home, emit colder exhaust.
Debbie Nicholson, who was waiting Wednesday for her 9-year-old outside Indian Brook School said parents in Plymouth have been buying up detectors since Nicole's death.
"I know three other families that have since gone out and bought CO detectors for every room in the house," she said.
At the school, the US flag has been flying at half-staff, counselors have met with students, and classes for the 700 children in kindergarten through fourth grade started earlier this week with moments of silence. Nicole was a second-grader at Indian Brook, in a class of 23 students.
"When you hear about the tragedies of a high school kid because of a car accident, you hear them so often, you're awestruck by it, but you're not surprised, because it happens, and we know it's always going to happen," said Daniel Harold, principal of Indian Brook School. "But when a 7-year-old dies in this manner, it's a different thing to deal with."
In school, Harold said he tried to strike a balance between comfort and alarmism.
Outside the Garofalo house, next to a basketball hoop in the driveway, the porch fluttered with a patchwork of homemade memorials. A classmate's portrait of herself and Nicole, a "prayer of Nicole and Adam," and a banner proclaiming, "Garofalo Family, We are Praying For You," flapped in the wind.
A yellow sign taped to their red front door declared the house "unfit for human occupancy," per order of the Building Department.
Mark and Christine Garofalo could not be reached, and a relative said by phone they did not want to speak to the news media.
Martin Enos, Plymouth's deputy fire chief, expressed hope that Nicole's death would spur more people to install detectors in their homes.
"We have to do something similar to what was done with smoke detectors 20 years ago," Enos said. "We're hoping that will at least trickle down from all of this. Time will tell."
© Copyright 2005 Globe Newspaper Company.
0
Comments
-
that is a sad story I have a oil fired boiler that is power vented and it's 16 inches above ground
and it seems to melt the snow.
and has a stack temp safety so if the stack temp gets to high
the flue is blocked and will shut the burner down
after hearing this I am going to buy and install a co
detector down near the boiler witch is under my bedrooms
I have one on the main floor but man that's scary
maybe I should just spend the money and install a chimney
this summer.
thanks0
This discussion has been closed.
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