Couple overcome by carbon monoxide

A Portage couple was hospitalized over the weekend after lethal levels of carbon monoxide filled their home.

"They are very lucky to be alive," Portage Fire Chief Bill Lundy.

The unidentified couple was found unconscious in their home on Diane Street on Sunday morning by a neighbor, who called the Fire Department.When firefighters arrived, the carbon monoxide level at the front door was 344 parts per million. The average level in homes ranges from less than one ppm to 30 ppm, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The carbon monoxide level, which escalated to 450 ppm in the home's basement, could have been lethal, said Lundy, adding that after the couple was transported to the hospital, firefighters ventilated the home until the reading was 0 ppm.

The culprit in this case was a gasoline-powered generator the couple was operating in the basement after power went out in their home due to Saturday's storm. The couple took precautions, said Lundy, by opening a door in the basement and leaving the window in the storm door open for ventilation.

Lundy said they can only theorize that the wind might have been blowing the odorless, colorless and tasteless gas back into the home instead of ventilating it outside.