Carbon monoxide in Milwaukee home, 9 taken to hospital
MILWAUKEE - It was a close call Wednesday morning, June 30 for a family nearly poisoned by carbon monoxide in their Milwaukee home. It happened shortly before 6 a.m. near 63rd and Stark. It came from a generator, according to fire officials, purchased after their power was shut off, the family told FOX6 News.
The family said they're grateful for the carbon monoxide detector that alerted them to this but added they barely made it out of their home alive, stumbling and losing consciousness on their way out. Fire officials said they did the right thing by getting outside and then calling for help.
"All of a sudden, everyone was just falling out and passing out," said Eddie Hayes.
Hayes and his family awoke Wednesday morning to the sound of their carbon monoxide alarm.
"Started beeping. I changed out all the batteries, and that wasn’t the problem," he said. "I called 911 right off the top because after I started feeling dizzy, like I was going to pass out, I knew that something wasn’t right because it didn’t feel right. It was hard to breathe. Luckily, we woke up because if it wasn’t for my daughter throwing up and my wife jumping up to see what was wrong, you probably would be filming us coming out of here because didn’t anybody know what was going on. All of a sudden, everyone was just falling out and passing out. Fortunately, we caught it."
Milwaukee firefighters said he did the right thing.
"Carbon monoxide doesn’t give you no warning," said Dewayne Smoots, deputy chief, MFD. "You’re not gonna cough. You’re not gonna choke. You’ll just feel bad, then bad, then flu-like symptoms, and if you’re not cautious, you will just go to sleep and you may not wake up."
Firefighters determined a generator was being used too close to the house.
"Anything that uses fossil fuel, gasoline, kerosene, anything that is like that, you don’t want to burn anywhere close to doors or windows," said Smoots.
Hayes said the family could not afford the energy bill; the power shut off Monday.
"I rented a generator from Home Depot and got it sitting in a nice spot away from the house, no windows open, and everything was going good," said Hayes.
Several of his children and his wife had to be treated at the hospital but everyone survived.
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"I was really worried about my family," said Hayes.
Hayes said he's grateful for the firefighters and paramedics who responded.
"I’m glad they got here when they did," he said.
Firefighters say this is why it is so important to just give a quick check to your carbon monoxide detectors and make sure you have them in your home and they're working.
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