Texas Father, Twin Toddlers Die After Carbon Monoxide Poisoning at Home Under Construction
Four people, including a father and his twin young sons, were found dead from carbon monoxide poisoning Sunday morning in a Dallas home that was still under construction.
According to Dallas Fire Rescue, two adult men and two children, both under the age of two, were killed by carbon monoxide poisoning at a residence in the 1400 block of Owega Avenue in East Oak Cliff.
The home did not have electricity. The owner said he allowed two employees to stay there. The owner found the employees and the children dead around 9:30 a.m. Sunday.
A gas-powered generator was still running inside.
"Even though they put it in a separate room from where they were sleeping, it ran long enough that the level was built up in the house and proved to be fatal to all the people," Dallas Fire Rescue public information officer Jason Evans said.
"We have come to understand those workers were doing work inside that house and they decided they were going to stay in that house overnight," Evans said. "They were using the generator, which was originally placed outside for power, to charge their cell phones and for heating equipment that they had inside the house with them."
Dallas Fire Rescue said they've learned there had previously been an attempt to steal the generator, which may be why it was inside the home instead of outside. Generators are not safe to use indoors or in improperly ventilated areas.
The mother of the toddlers identified the children as 19-month-old twin boys Elijah and Josiah Martinez. Their father, Nestor Martinez, was one of the workers in the house.
Esmeralda Gonzales said the children were staying with their father for the weekend. She told NBC 5 she believed they were staying in a hotel, after Martinez told her he had to leave another home where he was staying. She later learned he was staying in the unfinished home.
Gonzales said rescuers called her on Sunday from Martinez's cell phone and asked to come speak to her in person.
"I couldn't believe it, I was waiting for me to wake up, that's all I could think about," Gonzales said. "Wake up, wake up, wake up. This is not happening."
She said Martinez is originally from Honduras, but grew up in the Houston area. His family was on their way to North Texas after they learned of his death Sunday.
"He loved his kids, those were his first kids," Gonzales said.
Gonzales said she did not know the other man who was at the house. The home owner said the man is another employee. Officials have not yet identified the man.
The owner of the house said it is unknown how long the generator was inside the home.
Firefighters located all four victims in a rear bedroom while the gas-powered generator was in a separate room.
Dallas Fire Rescue was unaware of whether or not the victims understood the dangers of carbon monoxide exposure.
"Known as the Invisible Killer, CO has no color or odor and is virtually undetectable without the use of a hand-held or in-home CO detector/alarm," according to the Dallas Fire Rescue website.
Neighbors in the area that spoke to NBC 5 did not personally know the victims.
"I mean anytime you hear something like that with a family and then with children involved… its very sad," said Andrea Gonzales, who was sleeping in a home directly behind where the incident happened.
Click here for carbon monoxide safety tips.
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from NBC New York - Top Stories http://bit.ly/2SpAA1X
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