Let me start off with-everyone is fine. Now, let me tell you about yesterday. We have a wood stove insert in our fireplace and we use it for about 85% of our heating needs. There was a lot of ash in it yesterday morning and instead of starting up another fire I decided to clean out the ashes and soot and then start with a brand new fire. I started this project about 8:30 am.
Every time I opened the door to the wood burner it would pull smoke and ash into the living room. It wouldn't vent properly and I am somewhat suborn about doing things myself. I decided to get it working and have a fire by the time the first of the kids got off the bus around 2:15-plenty of time, right?
Wrong! I kept messing with the wood burner, opening the door-adding wood-taking out wood- letting smoke into the living room every time. I must have passed out from the smoke because the next thing I remember is the Carbon Monoxide detector beeping at me. Let me tell you it is VERY loud. I did somehow manage to take the batteries out of it and called the non-emergency number for the police in our area. I told them that it was reading 224.
This is where is gets a little foggy...I remember being told to go out on the front porch. I remember being woke up by someone and them putting me in an ambulance. I don't remember the trip to the emergency room. I don't remember calling my husband to come to the hospital. I had to have oxygen and they took blood to make sure I was going to be alright. They let me go home about 2:30.
What I am told is that when the emergency people got to the house I was passed out on the front porch. I also didn't know that there were about 15 people that showed up at the house; police, fire and EMS. They took me to the hospital. The Carbon Monoxide detector doesn't go off until it reaches 400 and then you only have minutes to live so it couldn't have only been 224. I burnt the carpet in front of the fireplace trying to get the wood out of the wood burner and there was so much ash on the mantel that it looked as though there had been a fire-but there wasn't it was just from the smoke and me opening the door.
The only thing that probably saved me was the Carbon Monoxide detector that I thought was dumb and a waste of money when we moved into our home. I believe I complained that it was ugly and stood out like a sore thumb so I put it at the opposite end of the living room behind some stuff so that no one could see it.
I never in a million years ever expected to have this happen. So please, buy one, get one from your local fire station. It is so worth it and it did the job it was suppose to-it woke me up. Mine is now sitting on the table next to the wood burner and is out for everyone to see.
-Old Wives Pails
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