A Lincoln mother is speaking out after she and four other family members were hospitalized for carbon monoxide poisoning.
Gisela Pineda tells 6 News she doesn't understand how it happened or why she's the one to blame. "Thank God the kids are okay and nothing worse happened.”
The mother of six says she is still shaken days after the scare of her life.
Pineda, her husband, their five year old, three year old and one year old children were rushed to the hospital. "We do that most of the time and it's never happened before."
Lincoln Fire Rescue says the family was using a grill to help heat up their home but the Pineda tells 6 News she was just grilling some hot dogs for her kids. "They're saying it's basically our fault because we brought the grill into the house. That is not what happened."
LFR says the charcoal grill created carbon monoxide inside the home and then the poisonous gas peaked to dangerous levels.
Pineda first noticed it in her three-year-old daughter. "She continued crying and crying and saying that her tummy was hurting. She started spitting up and then her body started getting all stiff...and her eyes were bleak and turned white."
Her 18-month-old lie unresponsive on the floor. "She was gone,” said Pineda.
The family was released from the hospital Wednesday night and came home to see their house is condemned by the city.
The couple and their six children are living with Pineda’s grandmother until they figure out what to do next. "We're trying to do our best to do everything they're asking us so we can come back and live here again."
Lincoln Electric System said power was disconnected to the home due to unpaid service. An LES spokesperson told 6 News they did restore power Wednesday, but inspectors discovered the home's furnace is broken.
A notice from the city says the family needs to repair it before they can move back in.