Another Tragedy and Related CO Legislation

Student's carbon monoxide death leads to law: Owners of homes, rental units, motels and hotels are required to install carbon monoxide detectors under a law passed by the City Council and named after (The Miami Herald)

By Laura Figueroa, The Miami HeraldMcClatchy-Tribune Business News

Dec. 31--Janelle Bertot was known for many things.
Freshman of the Year at Florida International University for the Class of 2003. Morale captain for the school's Dance Marathon that raises money for the Children's Miracle Network and Miami Childrens Hospital.

Daughter, sorority sister and friend.

Bertot died Nov. 14, 2004, of carbon monoxide poisoning and her name and memory have been attached to many things. Now it is attached to Ordinance 06-90.

When Mayor Julio Robaina and the Hialeah City Council Robaina on Dec, 12 signed Ordinance 06-90 into law -- requiring the installation of carbon monoxide detectors in homes, rental units, hotels and motels -- they named it "Janelle's Law."
"I'm very proud that something so important is going to carry her name," said Bertot's mother, Barbara, who is behind Janelle's Wishing Well, a foundation created to raise awareness about carbon monoxide-related deaths.

Barbara Bertot, whose husband Carlos is a retired Hialeah police officer, approached City Council Vice-President Carlos Hernandez and Robaina about passing a law requiring the installation of carbon monoxide detectors in buildings.

Under "Janelle's Law," the city requires all residential units to install carbon monoxide detectors. New construction projects are required to automatically install hard-wired detectors to complete their projects. Owners of existing structures, including homes, have two years to do so and are permitted to install battery-operated detectors.

The measure came after unsuccessful attempts to pass similar regulations on the county level. A state rule requires all counties to adhere to the Florida Building Code -- which y does not make installation of carbon monoxide detectors mandatory.

Still, Hialeah City Attorney William Grodnick said code enforcement officials will not be deterred from enforcing the city's new law.

Asked what the city would do if companies challenge the law, Grodnick said, "If someone is going to make those challenges, we'll let the court decide. We feel we have the authority within our zoning code to provide for certain requirements and we will enforce them."

Janelle Bertot's death was not the only one due to carbon monoxide poisoning in Hialeah. In November 2005, three young women were found dead in a closed garage at the Chesapeake Motel, 935 W. Okeechobee Rd., after they left their car running.

Studies by the American Journal of Emergency Medicine indicated that in cities such as Chicago that have mandated the installation of carbon monoxide detectors the number of carbon monoxide-related deaths have declined.

State Rep. Eddy Gonzalez, who attended the meeting in which Janelle's Law was passed, said he is making it a legislative priority in his rookie year for the state to follow Hialeah's lead.

Janelle Bertot, an honors student at Western High School in Davie, died after she and her boyfriend, Tony Perez, 25, were exposed to carbon monoxide due to a faulty exhaust system in Perez's 1993 Mercury Villager.

City Council Vice President Hernandez attended police academy with Janelle's father and worked alongside him at the Hialeah police department.

"I was touched personally by this situation," Hernandez said, explaining why he proposed the law. "I saw the effect that losing her had on him. We want to avoid these type of painful situations from happening again. It's such a small price and it's such a small step we can take to make a big change."

Barbara Bertot, who now lives in Weston, said she is not stopping with just a law in Hialeah. She plans on contacting the Westons City Council about adopting a similar measure and will push for it state-wide.

"Janelle was the type of person [who] when she believed in something she always tried to correct things done wrong," Barbara Bertot said. "Now it's my job to avoid this pain for countless other people. Had this tragedy been me, I know 150 percent Janelle would have done this for me."