2 people, cat found dead inside home from carbon monoxide poisoning; 1 hospitalized
PRINCETON TOWNSHIP, Minn. — Investigators suspect carbon monoxide poisoning killed two people and a cat inside their northern Minnesota home Sunday night.
Deputies with the Mille Lacs County Sheriff's Office responded to the 1600 block of 110th Avenue in Princeton Township on a report of a possible overdose shortly after 8 p.m.
Upon arrival, officers found a 27-year-old man dead in an upstairs bedroom along with his dog who was in and out of consciousness. The dog's condition is unknown.
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A 20-year-old woman was found deceased in another part of the house. She was with a cat that was also dead.
Fire officials responded and determined there were lethal amounts of carbon monoxide in the home, according to the Mille Lacs County sheriff.
"I'm guessing if they had fire detectors they would have been going off like crazy given the levels detected in the house," Sheriff Kyle Burton said. "Make sure your home has CO detectors. That's your warning system. If you go to sleep and all the sudden the levels rise to a toxic level, you're probably not going to wake up to that."
Investigators say the occupants of the home were using a gas-powered generator for space heaters in addition to propane heaters to warm the house. The house allegedly had no power or running water at the time of the incident. Authorities stressed it is never safe to run combustion engines like space heaters and gas stoves in enclosed spaces.
The deceased man was identified as Marcos Larson and the deceased woman was identified as Kylea May. Another woman was transported to the hospital to be treated for carbon monoxide exposure. Her condition is unknown.
Burton says this tragedy also serves as a reminder about the dangers of carbon monoxide.
"Make sure your home has carbon monoxide detectors because that's your warning system," he said. "These deaths are very, very preventable and we see them every year."
Officials recommend each home have several carbon monoxide detectors placed 10 feet apart and in each bedroom. They should be checked every six months. More information can be found here.
"We can prevent the next death and we can get that number toward zero," Fire Marshal Daniel Krier said. "This is a challenge at times, when people are looking for additional heating sources, whether because of extreme cold, or if they've fallen hard on economic times, and they are trying to find alternative ways to heat their homes."
Because carbon monoxide is an odorless and tasteless gas, we can't detect it on our own. According to the Minnesota Department of Health, 14 people are killed each year by unintentional CO poisoning.
