Teaneck, NJ – Thirteen people were taken to area hospitals Thursday morning with symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning after a gas oven was left on for at least two days in a house on Brinkerhoff Avenue, authorities said.
The injuries were not believed to be serious and most of the victims were treated and released from Holy Name Hospital and Englewood Hospital and Medical Center, said Battalion Chief Paul Browning of the Teaneck Fire Department. The occupants of the house were observing the annual Jewish holiday of Shavuot, which Browning said may have been the reason why the oven had been left on.
Firefighters first received a call from one of the occupants just before 8 a.m. after a carbon monoxide alarm sounded, Browning said. When firefighters responded, they found high levels of the gas in the house and evacuated the occupants, some of whom complained of nausea and headaches.
The 2 1/2- story house was mostly sealed with the air conditioning running, Browning said. An ambulance was dispatched to administer oxygen while firefighters ventilated the building.
“If you leave your stove on for two days, this is bound to happen,” Browning said.
He added that carbon monoxide calls are a fairly frequent occurrence in the township during Jewish holidays. The Fire Department received two reports on Wednesday of carbon monoxide detectors being set off by stoves that had been left on, and authorities receive similar calls almost every Friday night when Jewish families are observing the Sabbath, Browning said. Work that exercises control over a person’s environment, including starting or putting out a fire, is prohibited on the Sabbath and many holidays under Jewish law.
“We are afraid one day there will be someone who doesn’t have a carbon monoxide alarm in their house and we will have a very bad outcome,’’ Browning said.
(Source: North Jersey)
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3 Responses
Perhaps it’s time for the rabbonim to come out and prohibit gas ovens for Shabbos and Yom Tov unless there is a foolproof way to avoid this scenario. Leaving the windows open is NOT the solution. Chamira sakanta may’issura!
“If you leave your stove on for two days, this is bound to happen”
Why is this the case? I would expect this is a result of a faulty oven, yet the Fire Dept Chief makes it sound as if it’s inevitable that an oven left on for 2 days will leak CO. Can someone explain?
All combustion produces CO, its not a ‘CO leak’. Yes, having properly tuned appliances will produce LESS CO, but all flames will produce some. Without properly venting the air, the CO will build up. There is also a cumulative affect in humans where the longer they are exposed, the higher the percentage build-up in their system.
The alarms in this case went off on the second day of Yom-Tov. The alarm was on the second floor, but the kitchen reached 70 ppm of CO. There were various lower levels throughout the house.
B”H No blood levels reached critical levels, and the most that was required were a couple of hours of oxygen.