Saugus fire chief praises carbon monoxide detectors

SAUGUS – When a local family was awakened by its carbon monoxide detector at 3 a.m. Fire Chief James Blanchard said he was not only glad they had one but glad the family listened to it.”Whenever we get a call about a carbon monoxide detector we go in with meters,” Blanchard said. “That night the meter was off the charts.”It has been nearly three years since former Gov. Mitt Romney signed Nicole’s Law into action, requiring every residential and commercial building to install a carbon monoxide detector.The law is named for 7-year-old Nicole Garofalo of Plymouth who died in 2004 after drifting snow from a blizzard blocked a vent from a gas boiler and caused carbon monoxide to build up inside her home.Local fire departments are supposed to inspect for the monitors but Blanchard would be the first to say that they hardly have the manpower to do so. He is, however, an ardent fan of the little devices.”A lot of people don’t have them,” he said. “The gas is so insidious, there’s no color, no odor – you just don’t know it’s there and it can kill you.”The detectors are similar to smoke detectors, but are set off when carbon monoxide exceeds acceptable levels. They can be picked up at stores such as Home Depot, Lowe’s Home Improvement Store and other hardware stores and installed easily.Blanchard said most people connect carbon monoxide poisoning with cars running in an enclosed garage, but the gas can come from any fossil fuel appliance such as a furnace, gas stove or gas fireplace that isn’t working right.”A detector costs a lot less than what you pay for a case of beer and it saved these people’s lives,” Blanchard said.