Investigators: Running Car In Garage Caused Fatal Carbon Monoxide Poisoning In Queens
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- An NYPD sergeant who went to check on his elderly parents in Floral Park, Queens made a tragic discovery Friday.
The couple, along with a tenant and a person visiting, were found dead in a carbon monoxide incident, CBS2's Ilana Gold reported.
Emergency responders rushed to the single family home at 260th St. near 86th Avenue around 3:15 p.m.
Jerry Hugel, 83, was found dead in the garage. His wife, 80-year-old Marie Hugel, was found dead in the basement.
Investigators said the car in the garage was left running, possibly by accident, filling the home with carbon monoxide, Gold reported.
Walter Vonthadden, 76, was found dead in the upstairs living room, and Gloria Greco, 70, was found dead upstairs near a staircase.
It was a discovery that left neighbors shaken.
"We know those people over 35 years, and I'm kind of shocked, really," said Barbara Stoja.
The Hugels had been married for 60 years and took pride in their German heritage.
"Wonderful people, very much involved in the German organization in the dancing group," said neighbor Helga Harter.
The windows of the home were left open overnight to vent the lethal gas, Gold reported.
Investigators: Running Car In Garage Caused Fatal Carbon Monoxide Poisoning In Queens
Police are still investigating if the home had working carbon monoxide detectors.
On Long Island, Dix Hills Fire Chief Robert Fling said carbon monoxide detectors are just as important as smoke detectors.
"Carbon monoxide is a colorless, odorless, tasteless gas that can be filling your house right now and you wouldn't even know it," he told WCBS 880's Sophia Hall. "Generally it comes from a furnace, fire place -- something like that, that is not vented outside properly and the gas builds up inside."
Fling said low-level exposure starts with headaches.
"And it can quickly progress, depending on the concentration in the house, up to unconsciousness and once you're unconscious basically death follows that," he said.
A good reminder to test and change your batteries in your carbon monoxide and smoke detectors is when your clocks change for daylight saving time.
