Seven People Sent To A Tulsa Hospital Following A Carbon Monoxide Incident

Thursday, January 18th 2007, 8:36 am

By: News On 6

Fire investigators are warning Oklahomans of a poisonous by-product of this winter weather. Many of the options people are using to stay warm, like some space heaters, put off deadly amounts of carbon monoxide.

News on 6 anchor Terry Hood says it happened Thursday morning in the 1700 block of North Tacoma in Tulsa. All seven people in a two-story house had to be taken to the hospital.

When fire crews arrived, they found what they call "extremely high" levels of carbon monoxide throughout the house. Firefighters set up a fan in the front door way and opened up the garage and upstairs windows to get the air flowing. It took several ambulances to get everyone to the hospital.

The Tulsa Fire Department can't yet say where all the carbon monoxide came from. They're waiting for the adults in the house to recover before they can be interviewed.

Meanwhile, investigators know exactly what caused the carbon monoxide that killed two people just over the Arkansas state line. A couple in their 40s were overwhelmed by the fumes from a generator they had running in a crawl space under their home.

Wood-burning stoves, fireplaces, and gas-powered space heaters also give off dangerous amounts of carbon monoxide. Tulsa Fire Public Education Chief Mike Harris: "check the flame out. If the flame is yellow, it's not adjusted properly. Blue flame is what we're looking for. That means most of the products of combustion are being consumed and you're emitting very little carbon monoxide if you have a blue flame.â€

Officials say the latest in space age heater technology should help cut down on carbon monoxide deaths.