WASHINGTON, D.C.—U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) Chair Alex Hoehn-Saric announced today 22 awardees of a grant program aimed at preventing carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning. The state and local governments were selected by CPSC, from a group of 31 applicants. CPSC will provide more than $3 million in federal Carbon Monoxide Poisoning PreventionGrant Program (COPPGP) funds that will be matched by $1 million in recipient funds. This will fund state and local government efforts to reduce deaths and injuries from carbon monoxide poisoning.
Carbon Monoxide Poisoning PreventionGrant Program Awards
Awardee
State
Award Amount
Alaska Department of Public Safety
Alaska
$100,000.00
City of Huntington Beach
California
$53,400.00
City & County of Denver
Colorado
$82,500.00
Government of District of Columbia
District of Columbia
$130,000.00
State of Georgia Department of Public Health
Georgia
$178,577.93
City of Aurora
Illinois
$51,000.00
Louisiana State Fire Marshal
Louisiana
$37,500.00
Maryland Department of State Police
Maryland
$200,000.00
City of Boston
Massachusetts
$260,031.75
City of Pontiac
Michigan
$300,000.00
Minnesota Department of Public Safety
Minnesota
$200,000.00
New Hampshire Department of Safety
New Hampshire
$90,772.50
City of Jamestown
New York
$176,297.23
City of Syracuse
New York
$50,000.00
County of Rockland
New York
$100,000.00
Gates Fire District
New York
$50,000.00
City of Akron
Ohio
$76,460.00
City of Portland
Oregon
$320,000.00
City of Sevierville
Tennessee
$41,250.00
Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance
Tennessee
$300,000.00
Vermont Department of Public Safety
Vermont
$50,772.01
Central Pierce Fire & Rescue
Washington
$187,500.00
CPSC’s grant program is authorized through the Nicholas and Zachary Burt Memorial Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Prevention Act of 2022 to provide eligible state, local, and tribal governments with grants to purchase and install CO alarms in residential homes and dwelling units of low-income families or elderly people and facilities that serve children or the elderly, including childcare centers, public schools and senior centers, and to develop training and public education programs with the goal of preventing CO poisoning. This legislation was sponsored by Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minnesota) and Sen. John Hoeven (R-North Dakota) in the Senate, and Rep. Buddy Carter (R-Georgia) and Rep. Annie Kuster (D-New Hampshire) in the House. President Joe Biden signed the bill into law on March 15, 2022.
“Following the deaths of two boys from carbon monoxide poisoning in their home, Congress enacted this grant program to prevent future tragedies. I am pleased that we are moving forward with these 22 grants to states and localities that will enable them to educate their residents and prevent CO poisoning in their communities,” said CPSC Chair Alex Hoehn-Saric.
Grantees will have two years to use the funding to purchase and install CO alarms and complete training and education efforts.
The burning of fuels produces CO, which is a colorless, odorless gas. Exposure to unhealthy levels of CO can lead to CO poisoning, a serious health condition that could result in death. Unintentional CO poisoning from motor vehicles and fuel-burning appliances, such as furnaces, water heaters, portable generators, and stoves, annually kill more than 400 individuals. CO alarms save lives and should be installed on every level and outside sleeping areas in residences.
“‘This morning one of our officers was on patrol…He noticed a car backed up against the fence, running.
We were informed that they had car issues with a muffler, so that’s eventually what lead to the carbon monoxide leaking inside of the vehicle while they were sitting there…’”
“An official from Lansing Fire Department said workers had been using gas-powered power washers in the basement of the building, causing dangerously high carbon monoxide levels in the building.”
“On Friday, December 22, Bob, Barb, and Tim Modzeleski were found dead in their Alpine Township home, following a carbon monoxide leak that sprung from a boiler.
“Robertson said her parents had used the generator all night and, when her father woke up, he wasn’t feeling well. Her parents walked into the garage and her father passed out.
Her mother was able to call Robertson for help before she too collapsed. Robertson called 911 and emergency crews found the couple, but could not save Bert Ogborn. Cathy Ogborn was hospitalized, but is recovering.”
A sad reminder to never run a generator in an enclosed space. Generators should be run outdoors at least 20 feet from occupied spaces.
“Davison Township Police Chief Jay Rendon said emergency crews found an 82-year-old man dead inside the house when they arrived. Firefighters pulled an 83-year-old woman outside.
An ambulance rushed the woman to Hurley Medical Center in critical condition. She later was airlifted to ProMedica Toledo Hospital in Ohio, where she remained in critical condition.”
“I just knew I had to someone call 911. So, I actually used our Alexa in the bedroom to call, and then was able to grab a phone off the bed by crawling over to it,” she recalled.
Unbeknownst to her and her family at the time, they were being poisoned by carbon monoxide and it was coming from their pool’s heater.”
Followup on the death of hotel maintenance worker last November at the Victory Inn & Suites in Ann Arbor, Michigan –
“This death was 100% preventable.”
“A willful designation was used for two of the fatality-related violations due to the employer’s history of noncompliance with state and municipal fire, boiler and building codes. The employer’s knowledge of the worker’s inexperience with boiler-type heating systems also shows the employer’s plain indifference to employee health and safety and MIOSHA rules.”
“At the 2021 Faster Horses festival, five country fans went to sleep in their trailer after a day of concerts — only two woke up. Inside one of many tragedies at country music’s deadly fest…”
“Jones said when he and his fellow firefighters finally caught up with the calls, he was able to run to his house that evening to turn his generator on for his family…”
“…after clearing the scene, firefighters were called back on a report of (another) employee not feeling well. That’s when they detected a dangerous gas…four firefighters and three police officers were also sent to the hospital for evaluation…the deadly gas is odorless, and the only way to prevent such incidents is to install detectors at home and business.”
“Crews entered the hotel and found a maintenance worker inside the boiler room deceased… Testing showed the boiler room contained carbon monoxide levels in excess of 500 parts per million…”
“Charles Suire, 49, of Ann Arbor, was found dead Monday, November 28, in the boiler room of the Victory Inn, 3750 Washtenaw Ave., according to the Ann Arbor Police Department.
Police were contacted by Ann Arbor Public Schools around 12:30 p.m. Monday to conduct a health and welfare check after a 14-year-old student who was staying at the hotel with his mother and father failed to show up for school. said the police.
Officers came and met with the teenager, who said he did not go to school because he was worried about his father Suire, who left her room around 3pm the previous day and had not returned, police said…Investigators reviewing the hotel’s surveillance video saw Suire enter the boiler room alone around 3pm and did not come out…”
“Families of three men who died of carbon monoxide poisoning while camping at the 2021 Faster Horses Festival are suing the event promoter and Michigan International Speedway, alleging the campground was overcrowded, unsafe and improperly monitored and inspected…Live Nation and the speedway, which owns the land, did not monitor or supervise the campsites, making the area unfit and dangerous for campers to safely use generators, alleges the pending lawsuit, filed in April in Lenawee County Circuit Court.”
“Emergency crews were called at 5:13 p.m. Feb. 3, to the Hidden Valley Apartments near State Street and E. Eisenhower Parkway for a report of significant levels of carbon monoxide detected in one of the buildings…source of the carbon monoxide leak was determined to be a severely corroded exhaust pipe for the building’s water heater…”
“Fire personnel located the room with the greatest concentration of the gas at 150 ppm. They discovered a detached exhaust pipe from a natural gas-fired hot water heater and determined the carbon monoxide…was being released in the room…If CO alarms were not present or not operating properly this incident could have surely proven fatal.
SHAES (South Haven Area Emergency Services) withheld the name and address of the hotel to preserve anonymity.”
“Hotel staff found the children lying unresponsive at an indoor pool deck and the breakfast area adjacent to the pool at 10 a.m. ET after noticing their figures through a window…The Fire Department also said it found one of the children in a first-floor room unconscious and not breathing…One hotel worker, along with two Berrien County officers and two Niles city police officers were also treated for exposure to the poisonous gas.”
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