During the colder months, when generators and wood stoves are at their height of use, we all too often turn on the news and hear a tragic story about how someone was killed or poisoned by carbon monoxide. Carbon monoxide is a deadly gas found in combustion fumes, such as those produced by cars and trucks, small gasoline engines, stoves, burning charcoal and wood, gas ranges and heating systems. Because it is odorless, tasteless and colorless, people often don’t know that it’s there until it’s too late.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, carbon monoxide poisoning kills more than 200 people every year in the United States. More than 20,000 people visit the emergency room and more than 4,000 are hospitalized because of it, making it the leading cause of accidental poisonings in the nation.

The more research I did on carbon monoxide poisoning, the more concerned I became. Every year, 150 people are hospitalized here in Maine due to carbon monoxide poisoning. During the 1998 ice storm, the official deaths were because of carbon monoxide poisoning and in the past few years, five Mainers have died, including a father and son from Windham. I knew that there had to be a way, legislatively, to help protect Maine people and prevent these statistics from rising any higher. When the Professional Firefighters of Maine asked me to sponsor the bill, An Act to Protect Maine Residents from Home Fires and Carbon Monoxide, I immediately agreed.

Maine currently does not have a law in place that even mentions carbon monoxide detectors. There is only the law that applies to smoke detectors, which is a law that hasn’t been updated in the past eleven years. An Act to Protect Maine Residents from Home Fires and Carbon Monoxide would modernize this law, and calls for the installation of carbon monoxide detectors and more efficient smoke detectors in single family homes and multi-apartment buildings that are sold in Maine, single family homes and apartment buildings that are being renovated, as well as to single family homes that are being added on to and to rental units.

Another important part of modernizing this law is the update to language about smoke detectors. Previously, the law simply stated “smoke detectors” and did not take into consideration that technology has changed. An Act to Protect Maine Residents from Home Fires and Carbon Monoxide specifies the use of either “ionization” smoke detectors or “photoelectric” smoke detectors, or a combination of both.

An ionization smoke detector has a chamber that consists of two plates that have an energy current running across them. When smoke enters the chamber, it disrupts the charge and sets off the alarm. A photoelectric type smoke detector uses a beam of light that, when blocked by smoke, makes the alarm sound. Both devices are equally effective, but respond differently to various conditions. Photoelectric smoke alarms respond slightly faster to smoldering fires, while ionization alarms respond slightly faster to flames. Combination units take into account both smoldering fires and flaming fires.

An Act to Protect Maine Residents from Home Fires and Carbon Monoxide does not require every homeowner in Maine to install carbon monoxide detectors, but the importance of having one is often underestimated. For the sake of yours and your family’s safety, I urge you to invest in a carbon monoxide detector. They range in price from $20 to $50. It’s better to have it and never need it, then to need it and not have it. I also encourage you to upgrade your smoke detectors, if you haven’t replaced them in a while. Ionization smoke detectors range in price from $8 to $15, while photoelectric smoke detectors cost $15 to $20 and combination units range in price from $20 to $25.

Also, on Feb. 20 at 7 p.m., I will be hosting the program “Speak Out” on local cable access channel 7 about this issue. It will be a live call in program to discuss this bill, the dangers of carbon monoxide poisoning and things you can do to prevent this in your home. I encourage you to watch and call with any questions or comments.

As always, it is my pleasure to serve as your senator. Please don’t hesitate to contact my office at the State House by calling 287-1515 or visit my Web site, www.mainesenate.org/diamond.

State Sen. Bill Diamond is a resident of Windham, and serves the communities of Casco, Frye Island, Raymond, Standish, Windham and Hollis in District 12.