TOLEDO — A woman and four of her grandchildren were found unconscious inside a vehicle last week.
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All five of them later died of suspected carbon monoxide poisoning.
We looked into the precautions people can take to prevent this kind of tragedy.
Officials in Toledo have not said yet what caused this suspected CO poisoning.
According to our affiliate station in Toledo, WTOL-TV, on Monday, Toledo police and representatives from Ford were expected to conduct an official review of the Ford Explorer that five family members were found unconscious inside last week.
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A 36-year-old woman and four of her grandchildren have all since died after they were pulled from that SUV after an apparent carbon monoxide poisoning.
Investigators say grandma pulled over the SUV, and the family sat inside the car waiting for help with a flat tire.
Toledo’s fire chief says the children’s father called 911 after showing up to help and finding them all unresponsive.
“Carbon monoxide is a tricky one for us. It’s colorless, odorless, tasteless,” Battalion Chief Scott Jacobs, Vandalia Division of Fire, said.
Jacobs did not talk to us about specifics of the Toledo case.
But he said, in general, inside enclosed spaces like cars, Carbon Monoxide levels can quickly become dangerous and deadly.
“When you think of a car being just four seats and even smaller, the time for that carbon monoxide to fill up and for you to get the reaction for that is very, very quickly,” Jacobs said.
Investigators are still looking into an exact cause in the Toledo case.
But Jacobs said the potential for exhaust system leaks in cars and the deadly danger those can pose is why car maintenance is important.
“This is again why we like to stress the importance of having your car serviced by a professional. Make sure it’s in good, top running order,” Jacobs said.
We will continue to follow this story.
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