Couple praises Dubuque, Iowa, firefighters after carbon monoxide scare

By Rob Kundert
Telegraph Herald
Copyright 2007 Woodward Communications, Inc.
All Rights Reserved

DUBUQUE, Iowa — The actions of two firefighters out of Station 4 on University Avenue have made Betty and John Fox appreciative of the Dubuque Fire Department.

"The two gentlemen who came here were exactly that - gentlemen," Betty said.

On a frigid day in February, with the temperature at just 10 degrees, the jarring alarm of a carbon monoxide detector hustled them out of their home on Graham Circle.

"We did what we were supposed to. We called 911 and got out of the house," John said.

Less then five minutes later, they said, two firefighters - Lt. Cal Motsch and Jerrod Atkinson - were at their home.

"While one went into the house, the other was in the car making sure we were OK," Betty said.

The firemen contacted Aquila, whose service person determined that a crack in the heat exchanger of their gas furnace allowed the colorless, odorless gas to leak into their home.

The utility representative lined up a new furnace and got it installed the same day.

John credits the combined influence of the utility company and the fire department for such quick action.

What touched the couple the most was the concern by the men from the Fire Department.

"They were caring and they knew what they were doing. They made it clear to us, so we didn't have any qualms about what they did," Betty said.

Fire Chief Dan Brown pointed to his department's mission statement: To protect, assist and educate our community and visitors with pride, skill and compassion.

"We want people to call us. We don't want people to think they don't want to bother the Fire Department." he said.

He also said there are three devices they like to see people have in their homes, smoke detector, carbon monoxide detector and a weather radio.

The department has responded 27 times over the last year to calls concerning carbon monoxide detectors.

That's not a lot compared to the thousands of calls for service that the city's emergency crews deal with every year.

Betty Fox wrote a letter to the City Council, which was published in the Telegraph Herald, to bring their experience to light.

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