The Durango Fire Protection District is reminding residents to stay on top of checking their carbon monoxide detectors after a CO alarm in the leasing office at the Rocket Pointe apartments in south Durango was triggered on Saturday morning.
As part of standard practice, a fire engine and medic unit arrived at the complex just after 9:30 a.m. No injuries were reported.
DFPD Battalion Chief Randy Baker said responders used handheld carbon monoxide detectors to measure the concentration in parts per million. The detectors indicated carbon monoxide gas was present above recommended levels in the leasing office at Rocket Pointe, 1255 Escalante Dr.
Although an above recommended presence of carbon monoxide was detected in the air, there wasn’t a high enough concentration of gas to pose a substantial, immediate risk.
Over prolonged exposure, the gas could have caused someone to experience headaches or other side effects of carbon monoxide poisoning, DFPD Captain Grant Allen said.
Responders simply ventilated the structure by opening doors and windows and using fans to blow the carbon monoxide out of the building, Baker said.
The building is not regularly occupied and nobody was inside of it when the fire department rolled up on Saturday, although the building houses a common area, gym, mail room and maintenance equipment, he said.
Allen said the biggest thing people can do to protect themselves from carbon monoxide poisoning is to ensure they have working carbon monoxide detectors.
Carbon monoxide is a silent killer. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention describes it as “an odorless, colorless gas that kills without warning. It claims the lives of hundreds of people every year and makes thousands more ill.”
Carbon monoxide is produced whenever fossil fuels are burned. Oil and gas furnaces and portable generators are common culprits for carbon monoxide leaks, the CDC says.
The CDC also recommends installing battery-operated or battery backup CO detectors in every room people use to sleep in, and to regularly check them to ensure they are working correctly.
cburney@durangoherald.com
