Carbon monoxide adds peril to storm
Blocked tailpipes, vents take a toll
One of the deadliest dangers from the Blizzard of 2005 is turning out to be carbon monoxide poisoning.
In Boston yesterday, police found an unidentified man, who is about 30 years old, unconscious in a snowbound Town Taxi about 3 p.m. on Huntington Avenue. He was later pronounced dead at Faulkner Hospital.
The car's exhaust pipe was blocked with snow, and preliminary evidence suggested that he died of carbon monoxide poisoning, police said.
In Cambridge, a 7-year-old boy was taken to Massachusetts General Hospital after breathing carbon monoxide, officials said.
The boy, who was waiting in the car while his older brother was shoveling snow yesterday afternoon, was treated and released, police said.
On Sunday, a 10-year-old boy died of cardiac arrest and carbon monoxide poisoning after being left in Roxbury in an idling car, its tailpipe blocked by snow.
Richard Serino, chief of Boston's Emergency Medical Services, said motorists should make sure exhaust pipes are clear of snow before starting their vehicles. But the colorless, odorless gas also is a danger in houses.
A pregnant Plymouth mother and her two children were in critical condition in a Boston hospital last night after suffering carbon monoxide poisoning, caused when an exhaust vent of their home's heating system was blocked by heavy snow, officials said.
The Associated Press reported that Christine Garofalo and her 10-year-old daughter, Nicole, were in critical condition at Massachusetts General Hospital, where they were being treated in high-pressure oxygen chambers to counter the effects of carbon monoxide poisoning. Ryan Garofalo, 7, was in serious condition.
State Fire Marshal Stephen D. Coan said the accident should alert homeowners to the dangers of improperly vented heating systems, and he urged people to install carbon monoxide detectors in their homes.
Deputy Fire Chief Martin Enos said the father in the Plymouth family, a Massachusetts Highway employee, had left the family's White Street home early yesterday, apparently to help respond to the snowstorm. He returned home about 10:45 a.m. and discovered his wife and their two children passed out in an upstairs bedroom, Enos said. The victims were taken to Jordan Hospital and then were sent to Massachusetts General.
Enos said the house has a propane-fueled natural gas heating system with an exhaust vent at the rear of the house, just a foot from the ground.
Town building officials examined the furnace yesterday, he said, and found it was installed correctly and functioning properly after a 4-foot high snow drift was cleared from the vent's front.
Enos and Coan said the state building code allows for vents for some new, highly efficient gas furnaces to be installed close to the ground, instead of being vented through a chimney or out a roof.
Coan said he already has alerted the state agency that oversees changes in the state building code about potential problems caused by that change. Late last year in Mashpee, several people had to be taken to hospitals after similar vent pipes were blocked by snow.
Coan also cautioned homeowners using woodstoves or fireplaces that they dump ashes only into metal containers well away from houses or other possible combustible materials.
Last fall, two house fires broke out when homeowners stored ashes in plastic bags or cardboard boxes and left them on a porch. Coan also said those using space heaters should be sure there are no combustible materials such as newspapers or bed sheets nearby, and that extension cords should never be used with the heaters.
Serino also urged people to be careful shoveling out from the massive weekend snowstorm. He said two people may have suffered cardiac problems and died while shoveling snow in Boston yesterday. He said an inquiry into the deaths was underway.
He urged anyone, especially those who do not exercise regularly, to go slow when shoveling out driveways, sidewalks, and cars.
David Abel of the Globe staff contributed to this report.John Ellement can be reached at ellement@globe.com. 