May 24, 2012
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- Carbon monoxide poisoning most often hits home. That's why so many families make sure they have CO detectors installed.
However, if you look for those detectors in a hotel, you probably will not find them. By state law in West Virginia, they’re not required.
One man died Tuesday morning and 16 were taken to the hospital from extremely high carbon monoxide levels inside the Holiday Inn Express. Like most hotels, it does not have carbon monoxide detectors.
“It's something that's never really been focused on. The main look is for fires, the outbreak of fires. It's more common to have a fire in a hotel than it is to have a carbon monoxide leak,” South Charleston Fire Capt. Virgil White said.
Fire departments and the health department inspect hotels several times a year.
“A hotel can have up to three permits from the health department, but none of those would address carbon monoxide monitors,” Dr. Rahul Gupta, director of the Kanawha-Charleston Health Department, said.
Carbon monoxide may not have been cause for concern in the past, but firefighters say maybe it should have been.
“A lot of your hotels do have gas fed things like the dryers that they use. Some have pool areas, so the pumps and things for the pools are run by gas. The potential is there,” White said.
Now, both fire and health officials want things to change.
“I think they (CO detectors) ought to be required in hotels and other facilities,” Gupta said.
“I think it's something that they should seriously look into,” White said.
According to West Virginia state code, the only law concerning carbon monoxide detectors is from 1998.
It only includes residential units with fuel-burning heating or cooking sources inside.
That means many homes and no public buildings are required to have carbon monoxide detectors.
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