GORHAM, Maine - Heavy snowfall has led to a spike in carbon monoxide poisonings in Maine this winter, as snow blocks outside vents. A lack of carbon monoxide detectors in residences is also creating problems.
On Monday 10 people in Gorham were evacuated from an apartment building after a boiler leak went undetected for days.
The boiler leak at the Gorham apartment building likely started last Friday, says Gorham Fire Chief Robert LeFebvre, when residents first started to feel sick. But the fire department didn't get a call until Monday afternoon.
"One of the people in the building finally decided that it was symptoms of carbon monoxide and checked with other neighbors to see if they were having the same symptoms, and called," LeFebvre says.
When the fire department arrived at the building, the carbon monoxide reading was at 107 parts per million. LeFebvre says anything over 33 parts per million is considered a health risk. "Had the person not recognized the symptoms, we could have easily ended up with multiple deaths," he says.
Four residents were treated at the scene for carbon monoxide exposure. Six others were transported to a hospital and have since been released. LeFebvre says there were no carbon monoxide detectors in the building.
He's been getting a lot of carbon monoxide calls this winter, and says most of them are due to two factors: appliances that vent to the outside of a building, and snow. Lots of it.
"We're finding a lot of appliances - the vents end up getting covered with snow, and the appliance doesn't function properly and starts creating carbon monoxide," he says.
Dr. Karen Simone of the Northern New England Poison Center says her staff is also receiving more carbon monoxide calls than usual. "Typically - and it varies from year to year - for the state of Maine only, we'll get about four calls or so a week," she says. "And over the last couple of weeks since the storm, it's closer to 20 calls a week."
"It's certainly an outbreak in terms of a common cause that is not what we could typically see," says Maine State Toxicologist Andrew Smith. Smith says the typical culprits of carbon monoxide poisoning are faulty furnaces, engines running in enclosed spaces, and improperly placed generators.
The problem this winter with snow-clogged exhaust pipes is an issue that's affecting more than just residences, says the president of the Maine Fire Chiefs' Association, Ken Brillant. "We're also getting an increase in calls for carbon monoxide commercially," he says.
Brillant says Brunswick firefighters responded twice to a local business with a roof-top heater that got covered with snow. A similar issue caused dozens to evacuate a commercial building in Lewiston last week.
Democratic Sen. Bill Diamond is sponsoring a bill to expand the use of carbon monoxide detectors. They're currently required for rental units, homes, and dorms renovated or built after August 2012. But Diamond wants them to cover a wider swath of buildings, including child care facilities, no matter when they were built.
Karen Simone of the Northern New England Poison Center says people need to take steps to protect themselves: Buy a carbon monoxide detector, she says. Clear exhaust vents. And know the symptoms of poisoning, which, Simone says, can be tricky.
"They're pretty non-specific, and they're a lot like the flu, which is part of the problem," she says. "Certainly a throbbing headache would be pretty common. Upset stomach or nausea would be common. Dizziness, or lightheadedness, or if it's lower levels that build up over time, sometimes people just feel exhausted and not very good. Maybe a little short of breath or that sort of thing."
As for the apartment building in Gorham, Chief LeFebvre says the owners - Peter and Donna Bolling of Cape Elizabeth - were notified about the lack of carbon monoxide detectors in April. The building will be closed until the issues are corrected. Attempts to reach the Bollings were unsuccessful.
