Carbon monoxide kills two

Bodies of grandmother, toddler found day after power turned off

Mary Ella Smith, 61, and Katlyn A. Smith, 15-months, were found dead inside their mobile home Tuesday night.

Richland County Coroner Gary Watts estimates they died sometime Tuesday afternoon. Watts said a gas-powered generator inside the home is the suspected source of the carbon monoxide.

Carbon monoxide is the by-product of the incomplete combustion of fuels such as gas, oil, coal and wood used in boilers, engines, oil burners, gas fires, water heaters, solid fuel appliances and open fires. It is an odorless, colorless, tasteless gas.

Carbon monoxide poisoning can occur when an appliance is incorrectly installed or malfunctioning or the gas is unable to escape a room.

Depending on the level of exposure, symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning include nausea, shortness of breath, lightheadedness and headaches, said Assistant Columbia Fire Chief Aubrey Jenkins.

“Any kind of gasoline-powered equipment, you shouldn’t run in your house because it does give off carbon monoxide,” he said.

SCE&G spokesman Eric Boomhower said the utility left a message Sunday at a phone number Smith provided. Electricity to the home was turned off Monday.

Boomhower said SCE&G cannot divulge details of the account, including how much was owed.

The woman’s daughter Ella Smith told police she, her daughter and mother had slept at the house the night before and had been running the generator in a bedroom to provide electricity.

The generator was running low on fuel. Ella Smith said she left the two at about 8 a.m. to go to work. She forced the back door open with a screwdriver after finding the doors locked about 9 p.m., according to a Columbia police report.

She discovered her mother sitting in a recliner and her daughter lying on a couch, the report said.

The home did not have a carbon monoxide detector, Jenkins said.

“This is obviously an extremely unfortunate situation, and our sympathies go out to the family of the victims,” Boomhower said.

[This is a very sad event obviously. Should they have had a carbon monoxide detector, they could have been able to get out of the house and get some fresh air. However prevention is the best measure in this case...never, ever, run a generator, use a barbecue grill, or cause any type of combustion in an enclosed space.]