By James Lomuscio
There are been three incidents of generator caused carbon monoxide buildups in Westport since Sunday, one so severe that two children had to be hospitalized, Fire Chief Andrew Kingsbury said today.
Kingsbury, the town’s emergency management director, cautioned the 23 percent of townspeople still without power following Hurricane Irene to be extra careful when using generators, particularly portable ones that have not been professionally installed.
“Be very careful and make sure your carbon monoxide detectors are working because those that are wired may not be with the power down,” he said. “If they need assistance, we can provide it with metering in a nonemergency mode. That means we won’t be arriving with sirens blaring.”
Kingsbury stressed that homeowners should never run generators in a house, a basement or garage even if the door is open. Operating a generator outside but close to one’s home is no guarantee against a carbon monoxide buildup either, he said.