By Evrod Cassimy – bio | email
CHESTERFIELD, VA (WWBT) - A Chesterfield couple is thankful to be alive after nearly being poisoned by carbon monoxide. A routine furnace checkup found that high levels of the gas had been seeping into their home. They never even noticed they were starting to feel the effects.
"My wife had observed that we had been spending a lot of time in this particular room sleeping a lot," said homeowner, John Street.
Brad Bradley with Bradley Mechanical found that the Street's needed a new furnace. A part from theirs had been recalled years ago and if they continued to use it the effects would have been a lot worse.
"If this might have gone on through this cold spell, they might have died," said Bradley. "It just reiterates the fact that routine maintenance is absolutely necessary."
Routine maintenance can save more than just a person's life. While the Street's were experiencing symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning their pet bird was as well. They've had a total of 3 birds. They believe the other 2 died from carbon monoxide poisoning.
"I had noticed that the bird had not been singing," said Street. "I said well I don't know, maybe the bird is unhappy about something."
The Streets have since upgraded their CO detector and are replacing their furnace. They urge every homeowner to have their heating system checked at the start of every winter season.
(c) 2009. WWBT, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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