2 dead, 2 kids hospitalized after suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning

Two people died and two children were taken to the hospital after suffering carbon monoxide poisoning.

A family of five lost power and made the fatal mistake of hooking up a generator inside their house, according to South Trail Fire Rescue.

WINK News spoke with Amy Bollen with STFR to learn more about how the children have been doing since the incident.

“We don’t know that answer,” Bollen said. “Nobody was conscious at the time, as our firefighters arrived, everybody was unconscious at the time.”

When first responders showed up to the house on Fifth Avenue in Pine Manor the scene tugged and pulled on their emotions.

“This is something that hurts the heartstrings of everybody, not just the community of where this occurred, but just also our first responders,” Bollen said.

All crews found were five people lying lifeless on the ground without witnesses or anybody to question.

“One was an infant, one was a toddler was transported to the area hospitals,” Bollen said.

What was found at the scene was a generator left running inside the living room of the home.

“The exhaust is poisonous, that’s what carbon monoxide does, it poisons your body,” Bollen said.

First responders rushed the two kids to the hospital along with another family member, and the kids are recovering. Although, two of the people inside the house never made it out. Bollen explained it’s not the time to be pointing fingers.

“We don’t want people to feel like this is something that oh, how could they?! They didn’t mean to; nobody wakes up and says, I’m going to put a generator in the house and purposely poison ourselves. It’s, we need to make sure that they’re aware we need to educate, we need to spread the word,” Bollen said.

If you use a generator during a power outage, it’s vital to follow these guidelines:

• Always run a generator outside and at least 20 feet away from your house.
• Never run a generator indoors.
• Keep gasoline and people at least 20 feet away from running generators.
• The exhaust from a running generator is poisonous.