Hints From Heloise

Carbon-Monoxide Concern

Dear Heloise: As I was COOKING DINNER, I preheated the oven and put the food in for about two hours. When we sat down to eat, my husband said he wasn't feeling well.

I then heard a beep and assumed it was my cell phone. It was not that, but our fire/carbon-monoxide alarm. The alarm said, "Warning, carbon monoxide!" I telephoned the nonemergency police number, and the police said they would have the fire department come out with a meter for reading carbon monoxide.

Upon arrival, the firemen suggested we head outside. We were informed that there was carbon monoxide present in our home. They called for more help and for the gas company, too. The fire chief opened all the windows and started venting the house.

The gas-company representative checked the oven, and he got a reading. The fire chief asked if I kept an oven liner in the oven, and I said yes. That was the problem. I guess the liner shifted over time and was covering one of the vents.

Is there any way you can help me get the message out to others that it can be extremely dangerous to put anything on the bottom of your oven? -- Donna Passias, Howell, N.J.

Glad your family was OK! Carbon monoxide can kill! Please read these important safety hints from the Consumer Product Safety Commission -- they might save a life, since carbon monoxide is odorless and colorless, and it's almost impossible for you to know that you slowly are being poisoned:

Symptoms of low to moderate carbon-monoxide poisoning are flulike, without fever, and include: headache, fatigue, shortness of breath, nausea and dizziness.

Symptoms of high-level poisoning are more severe: mental confusion, vomiting, loss of muscular coordination, loss of consciousness and ultimately death.

To prevent carbon-monoxide poisoning:

Install carbon-monoxide alarms in open areas, away from furniture or drapes outside each sleeping area.

DO NOT cover the bottom of natural-gas or propane ovens with aluminum.