The Silent Killer

TYLER-The temperature has dropped in the past couple of days, which means you'll want to warm up your home. But many appliances can put you at risk for carbon monoxide poisoning.

Carbon monoxide is known as the silent killer. This gas can't be seen, smelled or even tasted. So many don't know their breathing in this deadly gas until it’s too late.

Each year in the U.S., carbon monoxide poisoning claims more than 500 lives and sends more than 15,000 people to the emergency room, experts said. Home leaks can come from anything that burns fossil fuels. This includes your furnace, water heater or gas clothes dryer. Even your stove can be a hazard.

Poisoning symptoms are often hard to recognize because they are the same as the flu, experts said. But a good way to tell is if multiple people in your family come down with the same symptoms in a very short period of time.

Tyler fire officials tell us there is one way to keep your family safe from carbon monoxide poisoning. "The best thing is to get a carbon monoxide detector and put it in an area close to the sleeping areas of the home," Tyler fire investigator, Jeff Tucker, said.

Carbon monoxide detectors can be found at any local retail store and they cost about the same as a smoke detector.

For more information on how to keep you and your family safe go to www.carbonmonoxidekills.com [1] or www.epa.gov [2].