CHARLOTTE — Tragedy struck in west Charlotte after one person died and two people were hospitalized in an apparent carbon monoxide poisoning Saturday morning.
It happened inside a home on Ringwood Street. The Charlotte Fire Department had to remove three people who had been poisoned.
Now, the fire department is warning others to check their CO detectors.
The victim who died was 35, according to first responders. The others who survived are 75 and 53.
The gas itself came from the basement of the home.
“A generator inside the house, powering the house, that was located in the basement is what we believe caused the CO poisoning,” CFD Battalion Chief John Lipcsak told Channel 9′s Eli Brand.
Lipcsak says as the weather continues to get colder and people begin to use generators and other tools to heat their homes, they need to check on their carbon monoxide detectors to make sure they’re working.
“It’s odorless, it‘s tasteless, and prolonged exposure over time can lead to CO poisoning,” he said.
Some of the early signs of CO poisoning to watch for include nausea, vomiting, and dizziness.
“Always have that CO detector readily available in your house,” Lipcsak said.
The battalion chief added that checking smoke detectors is just as important. He says a good rule to follow is to change the batteries in both smoke detectors and CO detectors every time you change the clock, like it did this past weekend.
One neighbor told Brand they know the family this happened to, and the two other victims are still in the hospital.
The 35-year-old victim hasn’t been publicly identified yet.
(VIDEO: FDA warns of child poisonings linked to cough medicine)
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