GREENVILLE, Mich. — A Montcalm County firefighter says a carbon monoxide detector saved the lives of his girlfriend and their dog after he made a mistake.
Tyler Jones, a Greenville Department of Public Safety firefighter, hopes his story serves as a warning for others.
At the end of July, as severe storms rolled through west Michigan, Jones went into work to help with the damage.
He says around midnight, during a break in the system, he went back home to plug in his generator his girlfriend, Akalia Feazel.
“So [I] run over, get everything hooked up inside, power’s working and everything’s good, let her know, jumped in the truck and left,” Jones explained to FOX 17 Wednesday.
Around 4 a.m., Akalia called when their dog woke her up.
Jones rushed home and found carbon monoxide levels anywhere from 47 to 68 parts per million. Most alarms beep when it hits 35 parts.
Jones thought back to his haste earlier in the day and realized that he forgot to pull the generator back, which caused the poisonous gas to seep into the house.
“As I was walking through with the gas monitor, I’m replaying everything in my head and I go, ‘I never, I never pulled the generator away from the house.’” Jones recalled.
Akalia had a headache and a dry mouth but was otherwise okay.
Other systems include nausea, confusion and dizziness, and at high concentrations, could cause death.
It’s a colorless, odorless, tasteless gas, which makes carbon monoxide hard to detect.
“It’s something I should know. It’s something that I do know, but unfortunately because of what was going on, that’s not what I was thinking about at the time,” Jones said.
He says it’s a reminder that carbon monoxide detectors save lives and encourages everyone to install one on each level at floor height, since the gas sits low. Jones added that you should test your detectors every six months.
He says, as for generators, place them at least 25-feet away from any structures and take the extra few minutes to make sure that it’s set up properly.
Jones added that the Greenville Fire Department has seen an increase in carbon monoxide calls this summer, which they usually only respond to in the winter.
He says most of the time, it’s due to battery issues, but again, serves as a reminder to keep up to date on those life-saving devices throughout your home.
