Five residents of east Portland were taken to the hospital with carbon monoxide poisoning Sunday afternoon, after firefighters said they used a generator and propane cookstove indoors amid freezing temperatures and widespread power outages.
They were “conscious and breathing,” fire officials said.
Portland Fire and Rescue responded to an apartment near Southeast 148th Avenue and Powell Boulevard around 3 p.m. Sunday, the agency wrote on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
Portland Fire and Rescue warned people not to use generators, grills and gas stoves indoors because of the danger from carbon monoxide poisoning.Courtesy of Portland Fire and Rescue
Firefighters initially found four people experiencing carbon monoxide poisoning, but the count rose to five as they evacuated neighboring apartments. Crews found a “high volume of carbon monoxide in the apartment,” Portland Fire and Rescue wrote on X.
“DO NOT use generators indoors because carbon monoxide is a silent, colorless, odorless, tasteless killer,” the Portland fire agency wrote.
— Hillary Borrud; hborrud@oregonian.com; 503-294-4034; @hborrud
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