Communist
1st August 2009, 19:02
this story found here (http://www.mlive.com/news/index.ssf/2009/07/man_3_children_die_of_suspecte.html)
original story in post found here (http://www.revleft.com/vb/four-family-members-t113901/index.html)
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Updated: Detroit family dead from carbon monoxide poisoning had been using generator after utilities shut off by DTE
by The Associated Press Thursday July 16, 2009, 6:45 PM
http://blog.mlive.com/news/detroit_impact/2009/07/large_090716-carbon-monoxide-poisoning-detroit.jpgDavid Runk | The Associated Press
A house where authorities say four people, including three children, died from suspected carbon monoxide poisoning is shown in Detroit, Thursday, July 16, 2009. Officials say power had been shut off to the house a day earlier and a generator was being used in the basement.
A man and his three children aged 6 to 16 died of suspected carbon monoxide poisoning Thursday, as the family ran a generator for the one night they would have been without power, authorities and neighbors said.
The electricity at the Detroit home had been shut off Wednesday, after the family fell behind on their bills, but the utility said they had been assured it would be back on Thursday. A neighbor awoke to screams from the children's mother, who was found slumped halfway out a side door, about 3:30 a.m.
"She was just saying: 'Turn it off. Unplug it. Get my kids,' " said 47-year-old Alma Tyler, whose 61-year-old husband, Ernest, rushed inside the home, turned off the generator and found the others.
The father and the children were taken to area hospitals and pronounced dead, said Detroit Fire Department Capt. Christopher Dixon. The department's reports didn't indicate what the generator was feeding power to, but it might have been used to run a window air conditioner or keep food from spoiling in the refrigerator.
Those who know the family, including Alma Tyler and former neighbor Crystal Stitt, identified the man as Vaughn Reed. Public records listed Reed as 44 years old and an owner of the home.
The children were Mar'Keisha Reed, 16; DeMarco Owens, 12; and DeMarte Owens, 6, Stitt said. Their mother Marquetta Owens, 36, whom neighbors say was married to Vaughn Reed, was in stable condition at Sinai-Grace Hospital, the hospital said.
Ernest Tyler also was hospitalized and was getting oxygen and blood tests, his wife said.
After Ernest Tyler ran across the street and found Marquetta Owens, Alma Tyler said, he followed an extension cord into the basement and found Vaughn Reed on his back without a pulse. He shut off the generator, then found the two boys in a hallway and the girl in a bathroom, slumped against a wall, Alma Tyler said.
"He just wishes he could have saved one of those kids," she said. "He's just beating himself up."
DTE Energy Co. said the family had been behind on bills for years and it had contacted them fruitlessly more than a dozen times by mail, phone and in person.
"With no response, we had no choice but to proceed with the shutoff," said spokesman John Austerberry.
Shortly after the power was turned off Wednesday, the family contacted DTE and said they were in preliminary bankruptcy proceedings, Austerberry said. DTE confirmed the bankruptcy and power was scheduled to be restored to the home later in the day Thursday.
Tyler said no lights were on at the home when she and her husband ran across the street and they were told by rescuers that the generator was connected to the refrigerator. The utility was told the generator in the basement was being used to power two air conditioners, Austerberry said.
"This is clearly a terrible tragedy," Austerberry said.
Carbon monoxide deaths from generator use occur more often in winter during storm-related power outages and after extreme weather such as hurricanes, said Jay Dempsey, a health communications specialist with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
DTE said generators should never should be operated inside a home because of the potentially deadly fumes and urged people behind on their payments to contact the utility for help keeping the power on.
At the two-story, yellow brick house, at least one air conditioner could be seen in a window. A swimming pool was set up in the backyard, and a small plastic slide suitable for a young child sat in the back yard. Vaughn Reed's car was parked next to the house.
Family friend Wakane Ross, 37, said that on Wednesday, he saw Marquetta Owens out walking a dog, the children playing and Vaughn Reed working on his car. He described them as a "beautiful family" that would often have his children over to swim in the backyard.
"They were normally the kind of people who take care of things. They must have fallen behind," he said. "If you needed anything you could get if from this family. ... You didn't know they were in trouble."
original story in post found here (http://www.revleft.com/vb/four-family-members-t113901/index.html)
===================================
Updated: Detroit family dead from carbon monoxide poisoning had been using generator after utilities shut off by DTE
by The Associated Press Thursday July 16, 2009, 6:45 PM
http://blog.mlive.com/news/detroit_impact/2009/07/large_090716-carbon-monoxide-poisoning-detroit.jpgDavid Runk | The Associated Press
A house where authorities say four people, including three children, died from suspected carbon monoxide poisoning is shown in Detroit, Thursday, July 16, 2009. Officials say power had been shut off to the house a day earlier and a generator was being used in the basement.
A man and his three children aged 6 to 16 died of suspected carbon monoxide poisoning Thursday, as the family ran a generator for the one night they would have been without power, authorities and neighbors said.
The electricity at the Detroit home had been shut off Wednesday, after the family fell behind on their bills, but the utility said they had been assured it would be back on Thursday. A neighbor awoke to screams from the children's mother, who was found slumped halfway out a side door, about 3:30 a.m.
"She was just saying: 'Turn it off. Unplug it. Get my kids,' " said 47-year-old Alma Tyler, whose 61-year-old husband, Ernest, rushed inside the home, turned off the generator and found the others.
The father and the children were taken to area hospitals and pronounced dead, said Detroit Fire Department Capt. Christopher Dixon. The department's reports didn't indicate what the generator was feeding power to, but it might have been used to run a window air conditioner or keep food from spoiling in the refrigerator.
Those who know the family, including Alma Tyler and former neighbor Crystal Stitt, identified the man as Vaughn Reed. Public records listed Reed as 44 years old and an owner of the home.
The children were Mar'Keisha Reed, 16; DeMarco Owens, 12; and DeMarte Owens, 6, Stitt said. Their mother Marquetta Owens, 36, whom neighbors say was married to Vaughn Reed, was in stable condition at Sinai-Grace Hospital, the hospital said.
Ernest Tyler also was hospitalized and was getting oxygen and blood tests, his wife said.
After Ernest Tyler ran across the street and found Marquetta Owens, Alma Tyler said, he followed an extension cord into the basement and found Vaughn Reed on his back without a pulse. He shut off the generator, then found the two boys in a hallway and the girl in a bathroom, slumped against a wall, Alma Tyler said.
"He just wishes he could have saved one of those kids," she said. "He's just beating himself up."
DTE Energy Co. said the family had been behind on bills for years and it had contacted them fruitlessly more than a dozen times by mail, phone and in person.
"With no response, we had no choice but to proceed with the shutoff," said spokesman John Austerberry.
Shortly after the power was turned off Wednesday, the family contacted DTE and said they were in preliminary bankruptcy proceedings, Austerberry said. DTE confirmed the bankruptcy and power was scheduled to be restored to the home later in the day Thursday.
Tyler said no lights were on at the home when she and her husband ran across the street and they were told by rescuers that the generator was connected to the refrigerator. The utility was told the generator in the basement was being used to power two air conditioners, Austerberry said.
"This is clearly a terrible tragedy," Austerberry said.
Carbon monoxide deaths from generator use occur more often in winter during storm-related power outages and after extreme weather such as hurricanes, said Jay Dempsey, a health communications specialist with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
DTE said generators should never should be operated inside a home because of the potentially deadly fumes and urged people behind on their payments to contact the utility for help keeping the power on.
At the two-story, yellow brick house, at least one air conditioner could be seen in a window. A swimming pool was set up in the backyard, and a small plastic slide suitable for a young child sat in the back yard. Vaughn Reed's car was parked next to the house.
Family friend Wakane Ross, 37, said that on Wednesday, he saw Marquetta Owens out walking a dog, the children playing and Vaughn Reed working on his car. He described them as a "beautiful family" that would often have his children over to swim in the backyard.
"They were normally the kind of people who take care of things. They must have fallen behind," he said. "If you needed anything you could get if from this family. ... You didn't know they were in trouble."