After a 6-year-old boy’s death Saturday, Elkhart firefighters are reminding people to have working carbon monoxide detectors.
Medics responded to a home in the 1000 block of West Wolf Avenue on report of a 911 call hang-up. They arrived to find the boy unconscious in a car parked next to the house, where a family member had moved him, and they were unable to revive him.
Inside the house, medics found his 26-year-old mother, Liajuiza Diaz, also unconscious but they were able to resuscitate her, along with a 55-year-old man upstairs.
Firefighters found high levels of carbon monoxide, a deadly, odorless gas. It can emit from gas- or propane-burning furnaces, heaters or generators that malfunction or aren’t vented properly.
Aaron Gerber, the Elkhart Fire Department’s fire marshal, says any Elkhart resident can receive free carbon monoxide detectors by coming to the central fire station and filling out an application.
Gerber says the department hands out about 80 carbon monoxide detectors a year.
"They're a fairly inexpensive way to protect your family," Gerber said, "and if you're in the city, and you need one and can't afford one, we'll make sure we get one installed for you."
