An attempt to stay warm almost had fatal consequences for eight people, five of them children, who were rushed to the hospital on Wednesday night. They were inside a home on the 200 block of Fourth Avenue, just outside Redwood City, California. Electricity of their house had been turned off because of late bill payments, said acting Battalion Chief Glenn Grant of the Menlo Park Fire District. The house was being powered by a 4,000-watt gas generator, apparently cause of the carbon monoxide poisoning, that was running in the basement to power light fixtures and other appliances in the house, according to Menlo Park fire Chief Harold Schapelhouman.

 

Grant said firefighters received a call around 8:35 p.m. for medical aid involving a child who was vomiting and losing consciousness. By the time firefighters arrived, there were three unconscious children between 2-12 years old, who were taken outside where they regained consciousness with the help of oxygen from fire crews. More people had become ill and were in altered states of consciousness. The victims were taken to both Stanford and Kaiser hospitals and they are expected to fully recover.

 

"What we feel fortunate about is that they were able to call us, because if not, all eight might've been dead," Schapelhouman said.

 

Carbon monoxide is an odorless, tasteless and colorless gas and is highly toxic. Just this week, three female employees of the Squaw Valley USA ski resort were found dead in their car in what Placer County sheriff's officials said appeared to be accidental carbon monoxide poisoning.