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No CO Detector in Rowhouse Where Fatal Baltimore Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Occurred

By Jack Lebowitz, Esq. and Vadim Mzhen, Esq.

According to The Baltimore Sun, Department of Housing and Community Development assistant commissioner Eric Booker says the rowhouse that was the scene of a deadly Baltimore carbon monoxide poisoning accident did not have a CO detector even though one should have been installed and working properly. The victims, 40-year-old Vonita Gibbs and 30-year-old Mikeia Lucas, died on Tuesday after a gas oven was left on with the door open. Three others people, two adult males and a child, were admitted to Maryland Shock Trauma Center in serious condition.

City officials are reporting that the lower part of the oven had been covered with aluminum foil, which caused the gas to build before coming out. The gas then entering a heating duct that allowed it to spread to practically every room. According to fire officials, CO readings were as high as 500 parts per million in the unit.

According to the American College of Emergency Physicians, while carbon monoxide poisoning can pose a serious threat, it can be especially deadly during the winter, when people are trying to stay warm. In addition to the Baltimore accident, this week, a couple and their child, age 7, were taken to the hospital in Connecticut on Monday afternoon because of a CO poisoning incident in their apartment that was caused by a defective furnace. That same day, a maid found the bodies of five teenagers in a Florida hotel room. A car that had been left running in the private garage underneath the room is believe to have caused their fatal CO poisoning.

With over 400 people killed and thousands ending up in emergency rooms in the US each year from carbon monoxide poisoning, it is important that product manufacturers and premise owners make sure that they do not create or fail to remedy any type of hazard that could cause a CO poisoning accident to occur. The risk of carbon monoxide leaks go up in the wintertime with people using heating appliances and ovens to stay warm.

Open oven determined to be culprit in carbon monoxide poisoning, The Baltimore Sun, December 29, 2010

Family rushed to hospital after carbon monoxide poisoning, CT Post, December 27, 2010

Carbon monoxide poses a real, and needless, threat, USA Today, December 28, 2010

5 found dead in Florida motel room, CNN, December 28, 2010

Related Web Resources:
Carbon Monoxide May Be Greater Threat in Winter, US News, December 27, 2010

A Guide to Preventing Carbon Monoxide Poisoning

Contact our Baltimore personal injury law firm. Lebowitz & Mzhen also has law offices in Owing Mills and Rockville, Maryland and in Washington DC.

Full post as published by Maryland Accident Law Blog on December 29, 2010 (boomark / email).