Two adults and four small children were saved from a potentially deadly leak of carbon monoxide at their Meadow Lakes home Sunday in an incident firefighters say offers homeowners an important reminder.
Crews responded to the 100 block of North Meadow Lakes Loop Road after receiving a 911 call from the home at 2 p.m., according to Ken Barkley, deputy chief of emergency services at Mat-Su Emergency Services.
"By the time they noticed it, some of the children were not responding properly," Barkley said. "They're going to be all right."
Responders transported all six people from the home to Mat-Su Regional Medical Center as crews tracked down the apparent source of the gas.
"It seemed to be a malfunctioned furnace," Barkley said. "It kept no heat blowing, but the gas was filling up the house."
Barkley urges Mat-Su residents to ensure they have working carbon monoxide detectors to alert them to the colorless, odorless gas. No detectors were installed in the home.
"This was a close one," Barkley said. "Had one of the adults not been able to call 911 when they did, this could have been a fatality-type incident."
Investigators found extreme CO concentrations within the residence.
"They found over 160 parts per million of gas in the home," Barkley said. "At 30 your alarm sounds, and that's a fatal dose."
Alaska Dispatch News reporter Zaz Hollander contributed information to this story.