Safety Tips for Winter Heating Season

Invisible fumes from kerosene and gas heaters may cause poisoning deaths in homes throughout San Diego County this winter, but the tragedies can be avoided through precautions such as free inspections, officials say.

As the cold season settles over the county, people relight their furnaces for the first time that year, not realizing that the new curtains are too close to the heater or forgetting that dust needs to be cleaned from vents and burners.

A dirty wall furnace was blamed for the death of a volleyball player from Canada, Cory Korosi, in a Mission Valley hotel room in January, 1991.

Korosi’s teammate, Henry Wong, lapsed into a coma and was hospitalized for a week, but recovered and returned home. The wall heater in their room was clogged with lint and soot, causing odorless, toxic carbon monoxide to waft into the room, authorities said.

Near Christmas in 1987, 13 sleeping children and adults in a Southeast San Diego home were poisoned by the toxic gas, sending eight to the oxygen-pressurized hyperbaric chamber for treatment. Just before Christmas that year, 8-year-old Roseanne Keefe of Imperial Beach died from gas heater fumes.

Carbon monoxide “puts people into a deeper sleep before it kills you,” said Thom Morris, a fire engineer with the San Diego Fire Department’s Community Education program.

San Diego Gas & Electric Co. offers a free heater inspection program, including pilot light cleaning, gas leak testing, ventilation checking and pilot lighting. Private gas servicers offer similar inspections for about $45.

Kerosene heaters are also dangerous when used in enclosed rooms, Morris said. The Fire Department recommends electric heat instead because “even the most efficient kerosene heaters are putting off vapors.”

Gas levels inside a home can become many times more concentrated than outdoor pollution, said Virginia Bigler, assistant air pollution meteorologist with the county Air Pollution Control District.

“In winter months in particular, concentrations (in the home) may become life-threatening,” Bigler said. “The classic tragedy is those using a heater for the first time and not knowing” about the dangers.

Gases from barbecues and hibachis are also toxic and have caused many deaths in enclosed areas.

Proper ventilation, such as leaving a window open, is one way to reduce the danger of gas poisoning, Sheriff’s Sgt. Conrad Grayson said.

“Sealing a home to conserve heat leaves you at the mercy of a heater flue functioning properly,” Grayson said.

Grayson, of the Sheriff’s Arson-Explosives Unit, made several recommendations to keep families warm for the winter:

* Let trained professionals do heater modifications such as changing appliances from propane to gas.

* Turn off all gas and kerosene heaters before going to sleep, and use heavy blankets to keep warm instead. “Odorless carbon monoxide will create a sleepy atmosphere to all affected residents,” Grayson warned.

* Keep all flammable materials (furniture, curtains, trash cans, baby beds) away from heaters.