‘They call it the silent killer.’ Comedian uses near-tragedy to highlight dangers of carbon monoxide
Paul Field said he heard the alarm after a malfunctioning boiler sent carbon monoxide pouring into the basement and upstairs of his home. Officials say this likely saved the family’s life.
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A Lacey Township stand-up comedian is putting aside jokes for a serious message - make sure you have working carbon monoxide detectors in your home. It comes after a close call involving his family.
“The alarm went off upstairs. My wife was sleeping. First thing I thought was it’s bogus, so I moved it. This is a list of things you shouldn’t do, by the way. I moved it to another room and went off again. I said to my wife, ‘We got to get outta here,’” said Paul Field.
It was 1:30 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day. With his wife Denise asleep upstairs, Field said he heard the alarm after a malfunctioning boiler sent carbon monoxide pouring into the basement and upstairs of his home.
“The levels in his home were off the charts,” said Lanoka Harbor volunteer firefighter John Anderson.
While best known for his quick thinking on stage, Field realized the seriousness of what was happening and called the fire department.
“Odorless, colorless, they call it the silent killer,” said Anderson.
“Whether it be a chimney blockage, whether it be something else not working, all those flue gases and heat are going to come out the bottom and through the house, which is exactly what happened with the old boiler,” said Field's brother-in law, Ray Aaron, who is a heating and air conditioning repair technician.
Aaron replaced the boiler and forced Field to buy three more carbon monoxide detectors.
“You always put one at the top of the stairs or wherever the boiler is, so the gasses won’t get into the upstairs,” said Aaron.
“You need to have one of these detectors in your house. This could have been a story with a sad ending and we would have been here for a different reason,” said Lacey Township Deputy Mayor Pete Curatolo.
As workers fix the boiler’s chimney, Field hopes others can learn from his experience.
“I went onto the town’s Facebook group, posted the story and had about 1,200 responses where a couple hundred were ‘What’s a CO detector?’” he said.
Aaron says homeowners and especially renters need to make sure the boilers are checked about once a year to make sure they’re in working order and prevent a possible tragedy.
First responders say if a carbon monoxide alarm goes off, get out of the house immediately. Carbon monoxide detectors in New Jersey are mandatory in all residential buildings and must be placed within 10 feet of sleeping areas.
