Carbon monoxide sickens family at rental cabin, Utah cops say. ‘Something is not right’

A family of 19, including 13 children, celebrating Thanksgiving at a Utah cabin narrowly escaped after being poisoned by carbon monoxide fumes, family members told a news outlet.

“If one thing would have happened different, then this would be a story about 19 corpses being found in a cabin,” family member Jade Smith told KUTV about the incident Friday, Nov. 17.

Family members began falling ill overnight before evacuating the cabin and being treated at a hospital for carbon monoxide poisoning, the Duchesne County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.

“I just kept telling him, something is not right,” Cassidee Smith told KUTV, referring to her husband. She said firefighters told the family that a carbon monoxide detector in the cabin wasn’t working.

Deputies and emergency crews responded to the cabin at about 2:30 a.m. Nov. 18 to assist the family, sheriff’s officials said. Firefighters found high levels of carbon monoxide inside.

On Nov. 4, two people died of carbon monoxide poisoning elsewhere in Utah, the Carbon County Sheriff’s Office reported.

Carbon monoxide is an odorless, colorless gas that can cause sudden illness and death, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The CDC advises having heating systems, water heaters and any other gas, oil or coal burning appliances serviced each year. Install a carbon monoxide detector in your home and check the batteries each spring and fall, the agency said.

Don’t use a generator, charcoal grill, camp stove or other gasoline or charcoal-burning device inside the home, and don’t run a vehicle inside an attached garage, the CDC said.

Seek help immediately if you suspect carbon monoxide poisoning and feel dizzy, light-headed or nauseated, the agency said.

Duchesne County is about 110 miles southeast of Salt Lake City.

This story was originally published November 19, 2023 at 10:05 AM with the headline "Carbon monoxide sickens family at rental cabin, Utah cops say. ‘Something is not right’."