Experts warn to check CO levels

It goes without saying that every safe American home is equipped with a smoke detector, but a device with equal life-saving potential is often overlooked - a carbon monoxide detector.

While asleep in his Ann Arbor apartment Thursday, Brian Fishman, former sports information director for the Michigan Hockey Program, died from exposure to this lethal gas.

"The most common source of the problem is the furnace, like a cracked heat exchanger," said Jeff Perkins, CEO of the Perkins Construction Company.

The carbon monoxide generated in heating up the air in a furnace is generally contained in a separate compartment. If the heat exchanger is cracked, the gas can seep through the crack into the house.

Ann Arbor Police Department officials have not determined if this was the case with Fishman's furnace, but they do know carbon monoxide leaked from his furnace into the apartment.

SARA SCHENCK/Daily Carbon monoxide detectors cost between $25-$40.

Perkins also cited water heaters and ovens as potential hazards for carbon monoxide emission, as well as the more well-known example of leaving a car running with the garage door closed.

Jonathon Grant, the regional manager of the Hidden Valley Club apartments where Fishman had recently moved said he has "obtained information from Mich-Con on carbon monoxide detectors" as a preventative measure.

Six teams of Hidden Valley Club employees this weekend inspected all of the complex's apartments, Grant said. They checked the furnace seals and looked for items that could be blocking the return air vents.

Grant said a contributing factor to Fishman's death was the boxes lining his walls from his recent move to Hidden Valley. He said these boxes blocked the return air vents creating a build-up of the gas.

Several mechanical contractors disagreed, calling the blocked vents a possible but very unusual cause of poisoning.

Besides conducting their own investigation, Hidden Valley is planning to have mechanical contractors come to the complex next week for further inspection.

Although traces of carbon monoxide were found throughout the building, Grant said this was because the ventilation systems, which were originally closed, was opened to allow the gas to dissipate from Fishman's apartment.

Jonathan Gerisch, an Ann Arbor attorney specializing in landlord-tenant, real-estate and civil litigation, said the incident is "not likely a clear-cut fault. There are large areas of gray."

For Hidden Valley not to be found liable, it must show that one of the following scenarios is true, Gerisch said.

Either the tenant must have been warned specifically about placing items in front of the return air vents, it happened completely without warning or it is common knowledge that boxes blocking air vents can cause carbon monoxide poisoning, he said.

For total liability, Gerisch said, Hidden Valley must have been completely aware of the problem and not fixed it.

Gerisch advised that the situation most likely falls somewhere in the middle of these extreme scenarios. "There is not an absolute bar."

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