Pierce County fire agencies offer free carbon monoxide alarms to save lives
PIERCE COUNTY, Wash. - Dec. 11, 2024, marks one year since an Evergreen State College student was killed by carbon monoxide poisoning.
Local fire departments in Pierce County are taking proactive measures to save lives from the silent killer.
Central Pierce Fire & Rescue, Graham Fire & Rescue, and Orting Valley Fire & Rescue are offering free carbon monoxide alarms and installations.
"We are taking this time to educate the public, as well, not only giving them an alarm, but helping them to understand how carbon monoxide is generated, and its dangers," said Courtney Thompson, community educator for Central Pierce Fire & Rescue.
In July, the fire agencies were awarded a $250,000 federal grant to buy and install carbon monoxide alarms in homes throughout their service areas in Pierce County. The funds also pay for education opportunities to help people learn about the dangers of CO poisoning.
"You can’t see it, you can’t smell it, you can’t taste it. So, the dangers of carbon monoxide poisoning are really severe, as opposed to smoke that we see and smell. So, we need an alarm to be able to detect that and to alert us and our family to be able to safely escape and call 911," said Thompson.
Officials said the scary thing about this gas is that without an alarm, it’s virtually impossible to detect. They said symptoms are similar to the flu or a cold, including headache, nausea, dizziness, or fatigue.
"It can be really devastating," said Thompson. "They think I’m just going to go sleep it off, ‘I’ll feel better later, I’m run down. It’s a busy time, I’m working a lot,’ and they may not wake up if they have a carbon monoxide leak."
To participate in the free CO alarm program, the fire departments have a registration available online. The website also provides more information about symptoms and how to protect the home.
Funds were provided by the Consumer Product Safety Commission and authorized through the Nicholas and Zachary Burt Memorial Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Prevention Act of 2022. The Act is named in memory of two young boys who died from carbon monoxide poising in 1996 at their home in Minnesota.
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