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The New York State Office of Fire Prevention & Control (OFPC)
is working to ensure homeowners are aware of the hazards of carbon monoxide and
the new state law, known as Amanda’s Law, which, as of February 22, 2010,
requires all residences, both new and existing, to have carbon monoxide alarms
installed.
The law is named for Amanda Hansen, 16, of West Seneca,
who was found unconscious at a friend's house in January 2009. Officials later
determined she had been exposed to lethal levels of carbon monoxide in the
home's basement, where she and her friend were having a sleepover. She later
died at South Buffalo Mercy Hospital.
“Carbon monoxide alarms save lives,” said State Fire
Administrator Floyd A. Madison, adding that carbon monoxide poisoning is the
number one cause of poisoning deaths in the United States. “More than 2,100
people die from carbon monoxide poisoning every year and over 10,000 people are
injured, including, on average, 100 New Yorkers.”
Carbon monoxide can be produced when burning any fuel such
as; gasoline, charcoal, propane, natural gas, kerosene, oil, wood, or coal. If
any flammable or combustible material burns incompletely, carbon monoxide is
produced. Carbon monoxide can kill in minutes or hours depending on the level of
carbon monoxide in the air.
“We expect that the most frequently asked questions will
be about the requirement for existing one and two family residences,” Deputy
State Fire Administrator, John F. Mueller said. “Now these homes will be
required to have one carbon monoxide alarm installed on the lowest story having
a sleeping area.”
Homes built before Jan. 1, 2008, will be permitted to have
battery-powered alarms, Mueller said, while homes built after that date will
need to have the alarms hard-wired in.
Although specific requirements differ slightly for new and
existing residences, the intent of the law is to help save lives from a silent,
odorless and colorless killer.
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