SMITHFIELD, R.I. (WHDH) — A family of five, including three children, were taken to the hospital Wednesday night after they were sickened by carbon monoxide.
Smithfield firefighters said Guy Latour was working in his garage and when he came back into the house, he found his wife and three children unconscious. Emergency crews rushed them to the hospital; the three children remain hospitalized in stable condition, while their mother is at another hospital in critical condition.
Investigators believe a blocked boiler exhaust filled the house with deadly fumes.
Smithfield Fire Chief Robert Seltzer said the house has a carbon monoxide detector but it had been removed and had its battery taken out before Wednesday. Latour’s friend told 7News Latour took the carbon monoxide detector down to check it a few days and found it was not working. He planned to fix it but did not get around to it before his family was sickened by the carbon monoxide.
A nearby library owns the house and plans to eventually use it for an access road. Director Dorothy Swain said she was inside the house a year and a half ago and everything looked fine.
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