Carbon monoxide poisoning kills father and 7 children

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blueberries

Tue, Apr 07 2015, 10:41 am

A father and his seven children found dead inside a Maryland home were poisoned by carbon monoxide from a generator they were using because they could not keep up with their electricity bills, relatives and a friend said.

Rodney Todd Sr., 36, and his seven kids, aged 6 to 16, were found by officers in the southern Maryland peninsula town of Princess Anne on Monday, police said.

Todd's mother and stepfather, Bonnie and Lloyd Edwards, told The Associated Press that a utility firm had cut off his electricity because of an outstanding bill.

"To keep his seven children warm, [Todd] bought a generator," Lloyd Edwards told the AP. "It went out and the carbon monoxide consumed them."

The couple added that police had informed them the family was killed by carbon monoxide poisoning. Officials told NBC News the official cause of death was pending a medical examiner's report Tuesday.

Family friend Stephanie Wells also told NBC News that the family's power had been shut off because of an unpaid bill. "I just feel that the system failed him," Wells said. "They didn't reach out to help him with his utility bills."

Delmarva Power, a utility firm covering Maryland and Delaware, told NBC News it was investigating the incident.

Princess Anne Police Chief Scott Keller confirmed officers found a generator inside the home that had run out of fuel.

Todd's mother said her son was a hard-working and devoted father to his children, of whom he'd had custody for about three years.

"My son was a good son," said Bonnie Edwards, who was also the children's grandmother. "Not only was he my son — that was my friend. I could call and talk to my son about anything."

"You couldn't ask for a better father. You couldn't ask for a better man," she added.

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us.....36756

debsey

Tue, Apr 07 2015, 11:11 am

How unbelievably tragic. So preventable.

LittleDucky

Tue, Apr 07 2015, 11:57 am

Please make sure you have working CO detectors! You'd be surprised how many apartments or houses don't have them!

black sheep

Tue, Apr 07 2015, 3:45 pm

I am a little spooked by two similar tragedies within a couple of weeks. how often does an (almost) entire large family die in their own homes, and now two?

debsey

Tue, Apr 07 2015, 3:51 pm

black sheep wrote:

I am a little spooked by two similar tragedies within a couple of weeks. how often does an (almost) entire large family die in their own homes, and now two?

It is very scary, but for me, it underscores the point that imasinger made - someone said "if your religion endangers your life...." when talking about the Sassoons.

Imasinger pointed out that Judaism is actually very protective of human life.

In this story in Maryland, shabbos can hardly be blamed. The tragedy cannot be mourned enough. Seven precious lives. Separating that from the lessons, though, is the job of the living.

The DANGER is inadequate education about the dangers of space heaters, the need for smoke alarms, and the importance of checking and rechecking smoke alarms and carbon monoxide monitors for safety purposes.

Safety FIRST. This has to be practiced by EVERYONE. How many people have a fire safety plan? How many people know that their local fire department will send them a kit and might even send a fireman down to educate their family about escape routes and where to put fire safety kits?
How many families actually have fire drills?

The message is - get educated.

PinkFridge

Tue, Apr 07 2015, 7:40 pm

There's also the matter of people falling through the cracks. This family was poor and had their utilities shut off.

debsey

Tue, Apr 07 2015, 8:18 pm

PinkFridge wrote:

There's also the matter of people falling through the cracks. This family was poor and had their utilities shut off.

Yes. That's a whole 'nother dialogue. Sounds like this poor father was just trying to provide for his family and the social services really failed them. It's so sad.

zaq

Tue, Apr 07 2015, 8:27 pm

debsey wrote:

Yes. That's a whole 'nother dialogue. Sounds like this poor father was just trying to provide for his family and the social services really failed them. It's so sad.

heads will probably roll at the social services agency.

MagentaYenta

Tue, Apr 07 2015, 8:37 pm

zaq wrote:

heads will probably roll at the social services agency.

Maybe yes maybe no. Maybe he wasn't using any social services. Perhaps he had previously had power and heating grants but had used his maximum for the heating period. Perhaps the heat and power subsidies had run out of funding due to the bad weather last winter.(Federal contributions to heat an power subsidies were reduced for the interim budget.Trickle down meant that folks were getting 1/3 less the usual benefit.) There are some variables at play. I'm going to wait to hear the rest of the story.

ETA: I just read another account and apparently they were receiving some kind of benefits. The father had previous heating assistance but did not reapply this year.

sequoia

Tue, Apr 07 2015, 8:55 pm

I have been so distressed by this story.

Can someone explain why people die of carbon monoxide poisoning? I can understand why people perish in a fire. They can't get out. But in this situation, don't they wake up when they start choking? It's so scary.

Chayalle

Tue, Apr 07 2015, 9:10 pm

sequoia wrote:

Unfortunately, I believe it makes them sleepy.

zaq

Tue, Apr 07 2015, 9:22 pm

CO is odorless, colorless, silent and invisible. It makes you sleepy and slow, both physically and mentally, so even if you somehow figure out what is going on, you may not be able to pick yourself up and run out. If the CO leaks while you are asleep, you simply die in your sleep. CO does not irritate your eyes, nose and throat the way smoke does, and it does not make you choke. That is probably why many people choose to commit suicide by running their car's engine while they sit inside in a closed garage. They fall asleep and drift off to never-never-land unless someone finds them and gets them to fresh air in time.

MagentaYenta

Tue, Apr 07 2015, 9:22 pm

sequoia wrote:

Gas fueled generators should not be run inside (all of them have warnings on them). The family (according to some descriptions) was asleep when the carbon monoxide took their lives. It doesn't cause choking.

abaker

Tue, Apr 07 2015, 9:26 pm

Such a sad story.

Isn't a GAS generator very expensive to run? Am I missing something?

sequoia

Tue, Apr 07 2015, 9:41 pm

Ok, now Death of a Salesman makes sense.

MagentaYenta

Tue, Apr 07 2015, 9:49 pm

abaker wrote:

Such a sad story.

Isn't a GAS generator very expensive to run? Am I missing something?

He may have had $5 for enough gas to run a small heater and warm the kids for a bit while they went to bed.

zaq

Tue, Apr 07 2015, 10:16 pm

sequoia wrote:

Ok, now Death of a Salesman makes sense.

I thought he crashed his car?

sequoia

Wed, Apr 08 2015, 12:02 am

zaq wrote:

I thought he crashed his car?

Yes, but originally he planned to do it as described upthread. I never got it, so I couldn't understand what the other characters were freaking out about.

youngishbear

Wed, Apr 08 2015, 1:28 am

abaker wrote:

Such a sad story.

Isn't a GAS generator very expensive to run? Am I missing something?

The total balance on his gas/electric bill was probably higher than the cost of the generator.

So sad.

imasoftov

Wed, Apr 08 2015, 5:29 am

I won't know what I think about this until some rabbis make videos about it ...

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