The carbon monoxide deaths of an Omaha man and woman are serving as a tragic reminder of the importance of CO detectors in the home. Late Monday afternoon Omaha Police identified them as 79 year old Tedford Buller and 37 year old Jennifer Buller.
Investigators say the house at 56th and Spring filled with dangerous levels of carbon monoxide after a vehicle was left running in the garage late Monday morning.
"You can get possible health effects with long term exposure with anything from 10-24 parts per million," says Battalion Fire Chief Scott Fitzpatrick. He says the levels were over 400 at the home they responded to Monday.
With the continued cold temperatures, Fitzpatrick urges everyone warming up their vehicles to back them into the driveway. "Even if you start your car inside the garage with the door open that can still lead to dangerous levels of carbon monoxide inside your home."
Fitzpatrick tells NewsRadio 1110 KFAB symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning are similar to the flu. "If you get headaches, dizziness, vomiting, nausea, weakness and tightness of the chest, be suspicious of all members of your family having the same symptoms and the symptoms clearing up when your outside the home."
Fitzpatrick says every home should have a working CO detector. He didn't say if there was one in the house they responded to on Monday, but confirms there was no detector going off when they got there.
The Omaha Fire Department will install combination smoke and CO detectors for free for homeowners. People can request a detector by calling the department's public education office at 402-444-3560 or by going online at https://www.omaha-fire.org/