That was the day Lacie Johnson called 911 after she found her 4-year-old nephew unresponsive in her house. She learned her 1-year-old daughter also was ill and that her home was filled with carbon monoxide.
The children were flown to Dayton Children’s Hospital, and Johnson also was rushed to WayneHealth in Greenville from her home on Hickory Drive in the Wayne Lakes neighborhood of Neave Twp.
Tri-Village medics responded to a child having a medical problem. Inside the home, the CO detectors the medics wear on their uniforms alerted them to high levels of the odorless, colorless gas, so they evacuated the house.
The gas was traced to a water heater. It’s been fixed, and the home now has two CO detectors installed, Johnson said.
Although all three are OK, and she’s grateful to the medics and her neighbors, she said it’s a day she’d rather forget. “It was a very terrifying day.”
FIRST REPORT (Oct. 4)
Three people are being transported to a local hospital for suspected carbon monoxide poisoning, according to the Darke County Sheriff’s Office.
A mother called 9-1-1, after a 4-year-old child was found unresponsive in the house. That child and a 1-year-old child were flown by CareFlight to Dayton Children’s Hospital. The mother was taken to Wayne Health.
Deputies and emergency personnel responded around 12:27 p.m. to the 3700 block of Hickory Drive near Wayne Lakes.
There was a high level of CO in the air at the residence, according to New Madison Fire Chief Robert Cook. The source of the gas is still under investigation.