Carbon monoxide is a silent and deadly danger that kills thousands of people every year around the world.
With many people turning on heaters this time of year, experts warn there are ventilation risks to take into consideration.
The congregation at Mt. Gilead Baptist Church in East Lubbock had to evacuate more than 50 people on Sunday because of a carbon monoxide problem.
“When they got inside and tested the levels, it was 60 parts per million,” said Clinton Hobdy, a deacon at Mt. Gilead Baptist Church.
He said he had everyone evacuate after hearing the carbon monoxide alarm go off.
“This past Sunday was that day, we were getting the meal ready and the detector was going off, and I had known we had replaced the hot water heater previously, about a month ago,” Hobdy said.
If they didn’t have the carbon monoxide detector, Hobdy said it could have been very dangerous.
“We would not have known because it’s colorless, it’s odorless, it’s tasteless, it’s a gas and it came from the hot water heater not being vented properly,” Hobdy said.
There are things you can do at home to make sure your appliances are working properly.
“As a homeowner, to make sure the carbon monoxide is not coming into your house, is walk up to the furnace or water heater, there’s that flue pipe, that silver cylinder that runs up, make sure that’s connected to your furnace,” said James Russell, owner of Aire Serv.
However, Hobdy is grateful everyone got out safely.
“They could’ve gotten sick, they could’ve gotten headaches, they could’ve been vomiting,” Hobdy said.