Man am I freaked out

[sir_captain]

I was awoken this morning by an alarm blaring: "WARNING! DANGEROUS LEVELS OF CARBON MONOXIDE!"

Needless to say, having recently learned the mechanism by which CO kills people, I ran out of my apartment without giving it a second thought. After I got outside, I managed to get in touch with my landlord--he reported to me that two other alarms in the building had gone off and that he had inspectors on their way over to the building as we spoke.

The kicker is that these alarms were only installed about six weeks ago as part of a new NYC statute requiring all residents to have one CO detector within 50 feet of all bedrooms.

But seriously--I had nowhere to be this morning and was going to sleep in. If that alarm hadn't gone off, I'm really not sure I would have ever woken up again.

[Lavender Brown]

1. This happened to me two weeks ago

Also in NYC. Our CO alarm went off the morning of the big snowstorm. The fire department came, said nothing was wrong according to their meters, then reset our alarm. It went off again and they came back, and said it was a defective detector. Our landlord still hasn't replaced our alarm. :scared:

Scary that yours was not a false alarm - I'm glad you're ok, sir captain.

[sir_captain]

2. Yeah, it's really scary

I assumed that it was a defective alarm at first, but what with CO being colorless, odorless and so on, I wasn't going to take any chances. Those other two alarms going off seem to suggest that it's a real problem, though...

Thank god there was someplace else I could go. Lord knows that whenever I do move back in, I'm going to be armed with expensive and high-tech CO monitors.

CO is so sinister that it doesn't even cause you to gasp for air or to have an increased breathing rate--you don't know there's a problem until it's too late.

[Lavender Brown]

3. We've been really paranoid about it since they took our detector

I can't believe he still hasn't replaced it. :mad: I mean, he's slow to fix everything, but this is essential.

[sir_captain]

4. Oh definitely

If he doesn't replace it soon, I think you should bite the bullet and go buy one--safety first.

[miss_kitty]

20. replace it yourself

enclose the receipt (charge for the battery too, get the 10 year alarm battery) in the rent payment with that amount deducted. it's more important than what's convenient to him.

In fact, when you need something essential done, write him a note and tell him you will make arrangements for someone else to do it if he can't get to it in a timely manner, or if he says he will do it, then doesn't. and you will forward him the bills. and deduct the cost from your rent. That gets 'em up off their asses like nothing I know. :evilgrin:

[Tyrone Slothrop]

5. I still don't have one

Are the landlords supposed to supply them?

[sir_captain]

6. They sure are

And they're also allowed to charge you a one-time fee of up to $25 for it, which seems reasonable, I guess.

[NYC]

15. I bought my own. $30.54

Nighthawk. But it plugs in, instead of being battery operated and wall mounted.

Do you live in a small building?

[MadAsHellNewYorker]

7. ME EITHER grrrrrr

:mad:

[Tyrone Slothrop]

11. Wow

You are truly mad as hell!!


:-)

[MadAsHellNewYorker]

13. You bet I am

but only in a funny sorta, carbon monoxide is gonna kill me kinda way

:grr:




:silly:

[sir_captain]

14. Here's a link to the law

http://www.carbonmonoxidekills.com/carbon_monoxidedetector-nyc.htm

They were required to be installed by November.

[Dr.Phool]

8. I installed one in my house a couple of years ago

It was there for about 3 hours when it went off. I called the fire department, and they found nothing. But they looked over the detector, and they'd been on 8 calls that evening, all with the same brand.

[sir_captain]

9. Yeah, could be that

but I don't think so. There's a building being demolished right next door, and my hunch is that they are venting crap into my building.

[Zomby Woof]

10. Dammit!

That is scary news. :-(

Hope they figure out what happened.

[johnnie]

12. I had to call the fire dept on New Years

On New Years eve my alarm went off. It then went off the next day so I called the fire dept. They were there in about 3 minutes. Everything checked out, but they said my alarm is probably bad.

There was just a story here about a family that almost died from it.

Family Narrowly Escape Deadly CO Poisoning
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=387&e=4&u=/wdiv/20050208/lo_wews/2573765

In the story they talk about a family from 1996 that died from it.

" Clevelanders also remember Christmas week 1995, when a bird's nest blocked a chimney, trapping carbon monoxide gas that killed five members of a west side family, including three children still tucked in their beds."

I lived down the street from them and knew the little kids. In fact I owed the one little girl $5 for an odd job she did around the house. She was saving up to buy her parents Christmas presents. It was a horrible event to watch, the street was packed with emergency vehicles and the news trucks.
Then about a month later a friends little sister died in an apartment for the same thing. When my alarm went off this year, I didn't care if I looked foolish when I called.

[sir_captain]

16. Update

So apparently, the construction company next door was using kerosene space heaters to defrost the roof, and the exhaust was coming right into my building. I've become armed with several different CO monitors, and if any of them so much as buzzes, my first call will be to the police, and my second will be to my lawyer.

[rbnyc]

17. Yikes!

We got one when I got pregnant. It's in the nursery, which is right off our bedroom.

I'm glad it's there, but hope there's never a reason for it to go off.

:scared:

[miss_kitty]

18. two people died outside of Olympia WA today due CO2 poisoning

sad. They left their van running last night in the garage. dog died too. they were a grandparents, and their daughter in law found them. very sad.

Glad you got alarms.

[Speck Tater]

22. Not CO2, CO. Carbon MON-oxide, not carbon DI-oxide.

Carbon DI-oxide is the bubbles in a glass of Pepsi. Carbon MON-oxide is poisonous.

[miss_kitty]

28. pre-coffee post

I have immunity from all mistakes I make pre coffee. A big king's X

Thanks for pointing that out though. what a doof!:silly:

[SOteric]

19. Good thing they were put in, while the timing is eerie

it's good fortune to be sure.

[sir_captain]

21. Absolutely

I'm a little torn on the concept of fate, but in this case, I'm happy to accept it. :-)

[Nikia]

23. Whenever something like this happens to me

I have been narrowly saved from death or at least serious injury more than a few times. Each time it happens, I say "Well, it looks like I still am protected. I was not meant to die yet." It may just be coincindence, but I accept these things as blessings.

[shesemsmom]

24. You are lucky

so it was CO2. Ours went off once and had the gas company come and we were glad to find out it was a faulty detector.

[sir_captain]

25. No, it was Carbon Monoxide

Carbon Monoxide is created during dirty combustion (as opposed to relatively clean combustion with, say, a natural gas) and the construction workers were using kerosene space heaters, which spew out the stuff.

I was lucky that I had an alarm that woke me up...

[shesemsmom]

29. Wow your are Lucky

everyone make a note to test their detectors

[sir_captain]

30. Definitely

and also to make sure that they have CO detectors in addition to smoke detectors. CO is colorless, odorless, tasteless, and doesn't cause you to breathe harder or gasp for air until it's too late.

[salin]

26. So very glad that you are okay

what a horrible (but thankful, given that you are safe and alive) start to the day.

[sir_captain]

27. Thanks

Yeah, it wasn't that pleasant...it was a little hard to study after that.