Oklahoma City carbon monoxide calls spike as temperatures plummet

It’s known as a silent killer. Since the Oklahoma cold snap set in, Oklahoma City firefighters have seen an increase in carbon monoxide alarm calls. It's why firefighters preach the importance of having a CO detector in your home that is working.

OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) - It’s known as a silent killer.

Since the Oklahoma cold snap set in, Oklahoma City firefighters have seen an increase in carbon monoxide alarm calls. It's why firefighters preach the importance of having a CO detector in your home that is working.  

“As the heating equipment's turned on, you know, the cause for the CO going off is it increases and that's just due to the heating the heating sources in your home fireplaces ovens, any type of heating substance,” said Capt. Scott Douglas, Oklahoma City Fire Department. 

Since Friday, the Oklahoma City Fire Department has gotten over 40 calls related to carbon monoxide alarms going off. It’s not just furnaces that can trigger them - chimneys, even stoves, can cause this odorless and invisible killer to creep into your home. 

“The symptoms. You know, a lot of times you get headaches, just fatigue, nausea. Sometimes it's like flu, like symptoms. So, if you don't have a carbon monoxide alarm and you're starting to feel sick, you have a headache, dizziness, confusion, nausea, you might want to exit your house. Give us a call and we'll come out and monitor your home,” said Douglas.  

Carbon monoxide systems can actually expire. That was the case for one Oklahoma City family who say their detector started beeping on Tuesday morning, so they called 911. 

“It just kept on beeping and my grandma asked me to put some new batteries on the fire detector. So, I did. And we pressed the button, and it said like something about a CO2 leak or whatever. And then we called the fire department because we didn't know what to do,” said Brayden Gillette.  

The Oklahoma City Fire Department said you should check your detector to see when it expires. Most carbon monoxide detectors last five to seven years, but some can last up to 10 years.  

“That one’s about ten years old they said,” said Gillette. 

Most alarms made after 2009 have an end-of-life alarm that lets you know the detector needs to be replaced. That was the case for the Gillette family. 

“It's a life saver,” said Gillette. 

Firefighters also add each time a carbon monoxide detector sounds its alarm, the sensors weaken - especially ones exposed to carbon monoxide, which can shorten its life.  

“The best way to prevent this is to please have a working carbon monoxide detector in your home, test it monthly, make sure it's working, because this is very scary. We've had, you know, several deaths due to the carbon monoxide because you just don't know it's there,” said Douglas. 

As KFOR was leaving the Gillette family home, another detector started going off. So, now, they expect to have to replace all of their alarms.