CLEVELAND, OH (WOIO) -
If you're firing up that furnace to stay warm, we have a warning for you tonight. A family of six nearly died after a carbon monoxide filled their house.
They didn't know it at the time but the furnace was leaking carbon monoxide. Lauren Sledge and her five children, including five week old Malaya, were headed to bed. What may have saved their lives is when the baby woke her mom up for her four am feeding.
"And when I woke up my heart was in my ears, and I remember my 8 year-old screaming Mommy I have a headache," said Lauren Sledge.
After a call to her friend Jeff it was apparent it was carbon monoxide, which was followed by a call to 911. The concern then became for the kids still sleeping.
"And I'm asking my kids do you have a headache and one by one they're saying they have a headache," said Lauren Sledge.
The family got out and one of the kids even vomited in the ambulance. Firefighters were shocked they all were still alive because the CO levels were extremely high.
"When we go to the hospital I was just so emotional and the doctors were like, everything is going to be ok, but I just knew how fatal it have been," said Lauren Sledge.
After 12 hours in the hospital they all were released and safe. The home didn't have a CO detector before but they do now and they have a message to you...
"Please be cautious, don't ever take anything for granted. Take the necessary steps. That was 17 dollars at Home Depot. Get you a CO detector," said Lauren Sledge.
The Cleveland Fire Department has just been given a $137,000 dollar grant to buy and install smoke and carbon monoxide detectors through out the city.
For more information, click HERE.
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