Important Safety Tip now that Cooler Weather is Coming.

CARBON MONOXIDE is the killer. Time to test or Install Carbon Monoxide detectors in your home. It seems that in recent years it's popularity has made a comeback. This gas affects human life in a subtle and quiet way. Carbon Monoxide is a poisonous gas that is virtually impossible to detect. It is colorless, odorless and tasteless. The symptoms are often confused with those of the flu, the common cold, drowsiness or even depression. Many victims later state that they delayed treatment or investigation due to the symptom similarities.

Are you a potential victim of Carbon Monoxide? You may be if you have not had some simple safety checks conducted around your home. Carbon Monoxide is a by-product of the combustion of fossil fuels. In your home, this is the exhaust produced by your Oil Burner or Natural Gas heater. Fumes may also come from your Water Heater or the Automobile in the garage. The most obvious cause may be a blocked or defective flue.

A flue is the channel or pipe that is designed to draw all of the fumes from any appliance up and out of a dwelling safely. Flues are mechanically sized (most recently by computer for high efficiency appliances) to allow all of the by-products of combustion to be drawn up the flue by natural draft. Any blockage or interference may cause some of the fumes to spill out of the appliance into your home causing Carbon Monoxide danger. A blockage may be caused by soot build-up, caused by lack of maintenance of the flue or the appliance, or an animals nest being built in the flue during periods of inactivity or by aging or defective materials used to construct the flue. Further, Natural Draft flues also depend on combustion air balance, to allow the proper venting of fumes. It appears that the efforts of many home-owners to insulate from cold, hot temperatures and drafts by changing windows and adding insulation may easily affect the performance of a flue. Without enough combustion air, the flue may produce insufficient draft to siphon the dangerous by-product of combustion out of our homes.

The trend towards tightening our homes also reduces the amount of air changes within the dwelling. This also may be a contributing factor to the recent comeback of Carbon Monoxide danger. In the past, the percentage of concentration of Carbon Monoxide found in the average dwelling was naturally lower due to ineffective insulation. The air seeping in these cracks allowed the air changes that diluted the concentration of Carbon Monoxide. Today’s high efficient dwellings will allow the occupants to be exposed to higher concentrations of Carbon Monoxide for longer periods of time. Since Carbon Monoxide is a cumulative killer, it's effects remain within our system for a long period of time. These concentrations add up, day after day. This means that today, your chances of succumbing to Carbon Monoxide Poisoning is greater than ever.

The effects of Carbon Monoxide Poisoning may result in the slow damage to the brain, heart, other organs and tissues. Oxygen, which is required for life, is transported from the lungs to all of the body organs through the bloodstream. It is carried in the blood protein hemoglobin and, unfortunately, the blood hemoglobin has a greater chemical affinity for Carbon Monoxide than for Oxygen. This means that when the human body is exposed to an atmosphere of Carbon Monoxide and Oxygen, the Carbon Monoxide is first choice of the hemoglobin, thus causing lack of Oxygen and finally Carbon Monoxide Asphyxiation.

WHAT CAN YOU DO NOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF FROM THIS DANGER
There is good news for anyone concerned about Carbon Monoxide Danger within your home or work-place. Installation of a portable, battery operated Carbon Monoxide detector and alarm will no doubt save countless lives. This alarm resembles the common smoke detector that we should all be familiar with in our own homes and is available in local hardware and home improvement stores.

Your first line of defense is early warning. Install a Carbon Monoxide detector in the sleeping area and in the utility room adjacent to the heating unit. Today’s mechanical code standards require automatic shut down devices on some heating units when they sense lack of draft or Carbon Monoxide. Unfortunately, water heaters, oil burners and most older natural gas units do not have these devices.

Have your heat producing devices inspected annually. This must include the flue and flue connections. Make sure that during inspection and servicing, conditions that the units may be used under are discussed. There have been cases where a Natural Gas heating system and a Fireplace have been operated in close proximately independently with no problem, but when operated simultaneously, they both fight for combustion air, causing draft and operating problems.

Additionally, portable fuel heaters also produce Carbon Monoxide. Caution must always be used when operating these devices. Always open a window while operating these
un-vented heaters.

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Recalled Defective Heating Units in Homes

The problem has affected Valley Center and other North County communities. Gas-fired horizontal forced-air furnaces were installed in attics and crawl spaces of thousands of homes built throughout California from 1983 to 1994. Fire officials are concerned about the possibility of hazards. The furnaces could potentially start a fire or leak deadly carbon monoxide into homes this winter due to defects in its manufacture The furnaces overheat and begin cracking, and then they start charring the wood that they're mounted on, or begin emitting carbon monoxide, he said.

Homeowners need to inspect their furnaces and, if they are faulty the fire department is recommending that they be replaced. typical units are 2 feet wide by 2 feet tall by 4 1/2 to 5 feet long sheet metal boxes. The furnaces contain a gas burner, a heat exchanger, a fan and controls. All have steel control rods installed above the burners, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission. People can contact Consolidated Industries Tech Service at (800) 735-1666, Ext. 518. with model and serial number, if there is any question in trying to determine whether the furnace is an affected model. San Diego Gas & Electric Co. can provide a safety inspection (call 800-411-SDEG) and if they come across the furnaces, they will shut them off. S.D.E.& G. crews will also advise residents of the recall and recommends that they contact a licensed contractor to further inspect the furnaces for damage.

Good planning includes having knowledge of your community, its terrain, its roads, the best places to go and places to avoid in an emergency, what media stations to turn to during a disaster for information, and many other things.

Making plans ahead of time can often mean the difference between tragedy and survival. And, while the VCFPD and other emergency responders are dedicated to making your life safer, no one agency or governmental entity can do everything that needs to be done to protect you in all circumstances.

Don't delay... start planning today!

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