FAIRFIELD COUNTY, Conn. - After suffering through extensive
power outages last year and in anticipation of more likely to
follow, Redding residents Michele Coppola Ames and her husband
Andy took nature’s wrath into their own hands and armed
themselves with a propane-fueled power generator. They were
ready, they thought, for Hurricane Sandy. Their power went out
and the generator kicked on, but two days later their carbon
monoxide detector sounded its alarm. Fumes from the newly-
installed generator had seeped into their home through a laundry
vent and were filling the house. “The carbon monoxide detector
saved our lives,” said Coppola Ames. They are not alone. Carbon
monoxide – widely known as the “silent killer” -- is a highly
poisonous, colorless, odorless, tasteless gas produced by gas
and charcoal-powered equipment. The Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention estimates that carbon monoxide poisoning claims
nearly 400 lives and causes more than 20,000 visits to hospital
emergency departments annually. Th