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ChainSword20000 t1_j1sh0kc wrote

You mean a smoke detector aka fire alarm, or a carbon monoxide detector aka a broken fireplace/furnace/water heater alarm? For the former, have a fire evacuation plan, call 911, turn off the gas if you can, have a meet up point, emergency kit, and a nearby freinds house to go to. For the latter, just get outside reasonably quickly (not necessarily jump out window speed), and turn off the gas line if you can, and call the fire department to make sure its all OK in there, and then [edit] have a professional [/edit] fix whatever was releasing the CO. If you feel at all lightheaded on your way out, its time to start rushing.

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Medic1248 t1_j1vs19p wrote

You were good until you started telling people to fix things. Do not do that. Do not try to do that. Ever. Your detector might go off in your living room on the main floor and you’re like, I got this. Let me go shut off the furnace and I should be good. Down the basement stairs we go anddddd we’re dead. Why? CO settles and becomes super concentrated very quickly. There’s a reason that the fire department wears their SCBA when venting and investigating CO call outs. Especially when there’s symptoms.

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ChainSword20000 t1_j1vsf11 wrote

Make sure its safe to fix it first, and last I checked, you need a license to move and change gas lines from the city, even if you might not for gas being fed from a tank. You can use the outside valve to turn it off to help stop the broken appliance from producing more co, but you can't mess with the inside of the appliance, or the hoses to the appliance without a licence.

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ChainSword20000 t1_j1vsodd wrote

Also, I said call the fire department first to call the all clear - if it is accumulated enough to kill someone, they theoretically wouldn't give the all clear.

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Medic1248 t1_j1vw5zx wrote

Trust me, only reason I say to not think of fixing it is because people can be dumb under stress of emergencies. Look at grease fires and how many people burn down their kitchens because of it. A lot of those people see fire, panic, and do what they’ve been told their entire lives. Water makes fire go out. In this case, no. No it does not.

Off topic: when I typed that, the first thing that popped into my mind when i said “they do what they’ve been told to do their entire lives” was to stop, drop, and roll.

I can’t be the only one who realizes we were told and taught to stop, drop, and roll a whole lot for something that happens so rarely in our lives. I chock it up with other things I thought would be problems growing up, quick sand, piranhas, and the Bermuda Triangle.

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