Joseph M. Dougherty
Deseret Morning News (Salt Lake City)
Copyright 2007 The Deseret News Publishing Co.
OGDEN, Utah — All city residences must have carbon monoxide detectors by Nov. 1 because of an ordinance unanimously approved by the Ogden City Council Tuesday.
Fire Chief Mike Mathieu said the ordinance is the first of its kind in the state. Illinois, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Massachusetts require the detectors, but the mandate is new in the West, he said.
The City Council hopes other cities will follow its lead, according to a news release. "If it makes sense, I certainly hope others do that," Mathieu said.
"Carbon monoxide is a silent killer," said council chairman Jesse Garcia in the news release. "These detectors are important for keeping residents — as well as city employees — safe, because there is no other way to detect it."
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 500 Americans die each year from unintentional carbon monoxide poisoning.
Carbon monoxide from a faulty water heater is blamed for the death of one man and the poisoning of three Ogden police officers during the weekend of March 31, 2006.
Police had responded to 29-year-old Benjamin Sutton's apartment but could not determine the cause of Sutton's death.
At the scene were Ogden Police Sgt. Art Weloth and officers Ron Gardiner and Brett Connors.
Within 18 minutes, one of the police officers collapsed. The other two managed to get outside and call for help. Other police officers arrived and transported the three to McKay-Dee Hospital.
The officers were then moved to another hospital and placed in an oxygen chamber.
All three officers returned to work in short order, but Weloth told the City Council he still suffers from chronic headaches, which he never had before, Mathieu said.
Three weeks ago, Ogden paramedics responded to what was thought to be a heart attack patient, Mathieu said.
No one else in the home was ill, but when a portable carbon monoxide alarm in a paramedic's bag went off, responders had a potential culprit for the person's illness, Mathieu said.
Sure enough, carbon monoxide was to blame.
Carbon monoxide is a colorless, odorless and tasteless gas emitted during the burning of fossil fuels.
It is absorbed into red blood cells more easily than oxygen and can block oxygen from getting into the body, causing headaches, nausea, unconsciousness and sudden death.
Some victims of carbon monoxide poisoning exhibit no symptoms before they die, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Mathieu recommended the council mandate carbon monoxide detectors last year, but the council didn't like the penalty that was attached. So Mathieu retooled the ordinance.
Upon being served notice that a home is not compliant with the ordinance, the resident has 10 days to purchase and install a carbon monoxide detector. If a carbon monoxide detector is not installed after 10 days, residents face a $50 fine. If the resident installs a carbon monoxide detector within the next 30 days, the fine will be rescinded.
"The ultimate goal here is not to assess a fine or penalty but to protect yourself from a silent killer," Mathieu said.
The city currently has about 900 detectors that it will allow Ogden residents to purchase for $8 -- half what the city paid for them, the release says.
The money the city receives from the sale of these carbon monoxide detectors will go toward the purchase of more detectors that will be made available to Ogden residents for the same discounted price.
The fire department distributed 5,600 carbon monoxide detectors between 2004 and 2005 to low-income residents, Mathieu said.
Ogden residents interested in purchasing a carbon monoxide detector from the city should contact Ogden City Fire Department prevention secretary Kate Hampton at 629-8074 to get their names on the purchasing list.
The detectors will be available for purchase within the next few weeks.
