BENTONVILLE FIRE & SAFETY TIP
Posted on Monday, January 5, 2009
Dec.22-28 TOTAL EMERGENCY CALLS 69 Emergency Medical Calls: 47 MVA With Injury: 2 Fire Calls: 20
Dec. 22 212 SE 34th, False alarm Dec. 22 4600 SW Bamboo Ave., Carbon Monoxide check Dec. 22 215 SE Walton Blvd., False alarm Dec. 22 3401 SE L, False alarm Dec. 22 602 N Walton Blvd., False alarm Dec. 22 4601 SW Golden Eagle Ave., Carbon Monoxide check Dec. 22 3801 SW Kestrel Dr., Chimney/ flue fire Dec. 22 1404 NE Young Ave., Carbon Monoxide check Dec. 22 40 Valley View Cir., Grass fire Dec. 23 402 SE Fullerton St., Carbon Monoxide check Dec. 23 2300 SE 28th--False alarm Dec. 23 1801 SE J St., Malicious false alarm Dec. 23 1505 NE Dysart Woods Ln., Water leak in home Dec. 23 1801 SE J St., False alarm Dec. 23 6203 SW Rutland Rd., False alarm Dec. 24 700 NE Essex Ct., Building/ structure fire Dec. 25 303 NW Abbey Ct., False alarm Dec. 27 17 Glenbrook, False alarm Dec. 27 1803 Mayflower, Smoke investigation Dec. 28 2600 SE Moberly Ln., False alarm
What is tasteless, odorless, can be found almost anyplace and is deadly - carbon monoxide. Any home with gas burning appliances or wood stoves and fireplaces can become filled with carbon monoxide without the proper maintenance and a watchful eye to the telltale symptoms carbon monoxide poisoning could become a problem in your home.
Be sure to check flue pipes that are used to vent the fumes emitted from a gas burning hot water tank, home heating furnace or gas clothes dryer on a regular basis, plus have the chimney of you home cleaned and inspected on a regular basis as well. Vent pipes can rust through in places, become disconnected between joints or clogged with bird nesting materials over a period of time, while a chimney can become clogged with soot or after a summer on none use filled with bird nesting material also.
Symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning could include headaches, nausea, dizziness, an altered mental status, cherry red lips and skin and even death. If you find a person suffering from an overdose of carbon monoxide call 911 and immediately remove the victim outdoors.
Homes are built to be much more energy efficient which means much more air tight than a decade ago, with this in mind it is very important to keep vent pipes and chimneys in top condition and able to do the job they were designed to do, that is to keep your home clear of carbon monoxide.
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