Carbon-monoxide alarms now mandatory in all homes

The goal is to reduce deaths -- there were 92 in Minnesota from 2002 to 2006 -- from the colorless, tasteless, odorless gas.

By PAUL WALSH, Star Tribune

Last update: July 29, 2008 - 11:02 PM

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A new law takes effect Friday requiring all single-family homes in Minnesota to have a carbon-monoxide detector within 10 feet of each bedroom.

With that deadline looming, the fire chiefs of Minneapolis and St. Paul, state legislators and the parents of a 3-year-old who died from carbon-monoxide poisoning are getting the word out about the requirement.

This morning, the city of St. Paul will receive 500 detectors to be given to families who otherwise cannot afford them. The price of a battery-operated detector starts at a little more than $20.

Minnesota's law is being implemented in three phases:

Phase 1, requiring alarms in all newly constructed single-family homes and multifamily dwellings where building permits took effect Jan. 1, 2007.

Phase II, requiring alarms in all existing single-family homes goes into effect Friday.

Phase III, requiring all existing multifamily or apartment dwelling units have alarms goes into effect in August 2009.

Jason and Melissa Griggs of Oronoco, Minn., and their extended family have been instrumental in passing the legislation following the death of their 3-year-old daughter, Hannah, from carbon-monoxide poisoning.

Jason Griggs was awakened in the middle of the night in March 2004 when his wife fell unconscious after getting out of bed. He called 911. Waiting for the paramedics, "I started to get really ill, violently ill," he recalled two years ago, soon after the requirements were signed into law.

Improper ventilation of their furnace combined with a downdraft resulted in a carbon monoxide build-up in the Griggs home. Paramedics saved Griggs, his wife, Melissa, and their infant daughter but couldn't revive Hannah.

Carbon-monoxide poisoning is the leading cause of accidental poisoning deaths in the country, according to the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The Minnesota Department of Health estimates that from 2002-2006, 92 Minnesotans died from unintentional exposure to this colorless, tasteless, odorless gas.

Carbon monoxide is commonly associated with car exhaust, but any inefficient or malfunctioning fuel-burning device can produce carbon monoxide , including gas furnaces, water heaters and power generators. In homes without alarms, the poison gas can accumulate without warning to a lethal level.

Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482

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