comment: >
  
  Trust me, only reason I say to not think of fixing it is because people can be dumb under stress of emergencies. Look at grease fires and how many people burn down their kitchens because of it. A lot of those people see fire, panic, and do what they’ve been told their entire lives. Water makes fire go out. In this case, no. No it does not. 
  Off topic: when I typed that, the first thing that popped into my mind when i said “they do what they’ve been told to do their entire lives” was to stop, drop, and roll. 
  I can’t be the only one who realizes we were told and taught to stop, drop, and roll a whole lot for something that happens so rarely in our lives. I chock it up with other things I thought would be problems growing up, quick sand, piranhas, and the Bermuda Triangle.
context: This is a friendly reminder to read our rules.
  Remember, /r/Showerthoughts is for showerthoughts, not "thoughts had in the shower!"
  (For an explanation of what a "showerthought" is, please read this page.)
  Rule-breaking posts may result in bans. >
  
  I think you mean CO. And the answer is GTFO and call the fire department >
  
  CO2 is carbon dioxide, average people don’t have CO2 detectors in their home, usually places like fast food restaurants that use CO2 to carbonate fountain beverages have them.
  CO is carbon monoxide. If your CO detector goes off, go outside to fresh air and call emergency services. >
  
  I had to unplug my CO detector because it kept beeping, which gave me a headache, and made me feel dizzy and nauseous. >
  
  Take my toxic gasseous upvote and suffocate on it. (Bravo) >
  
  Go outside IMMEDIATELY and call your gas company. They should send someone out asap. >
  
  I don’t know if this changes in other countries or anything, but call 911 (emergency services) not your gas company. >
  
  As an emergency first responder for the gas company I don’t believe there is ever a time that the fire department doesn’t call us out when someone calls them for CO. On the contrary, I am called out many times directly with people not calling 911. 95% of the time the fire department isn’t needed for the situation. If I need them to vent out the building with their gigantic fans, then I’ll call. CO detectors generally start alarming at around 35PPM CO. If the homeowner calls us immediately all I need to do is open a few windows to get a draft going and in 20 minutes the house is below 5PPM. I’d rather not tie up emergency services when they might be needed elsewhere. Just my take. >
  
  You mean the instructions you didn’t read and threw away was silent on the matter?  Huh. >
  
  You mean a CO detector. Ironically, what you'll want to do is find some O (oxygen). Open windows, and/or go outside. >
  
  I am strangely attracted to this irony.  Perhaps it is magnetic? Maybe it’s just a Fe ling? >
  
  If a CO2 alarm goes off, open windows and just let fresh air flow through the room.
  However if it’s a CO alarm, leave the house immediately and call emergency services and explain that your carbon monoxide alarm is going off as carbon monoxide is a deadly colourless and odourless gas >
  
  Ummm, CO2 is also a deadly, colourless and odourless gas that fools your body into believing that you have enough oxygen and you stop breathing. But I'm pretty sure we're talking about CO here, so get to fresh air call 911 and follow the nice Firefighters directions. >
  
  I dont talk about that. I have never ever talked about having a CO2 detector. Stop putting words in my mouth you coward >
  
  This comment made me smile after a blizzardly lonely Xmas thank you. >
  
  You mean a smoke detector aka fire alarm, or a carbon monoxide detector aka a broken fireplace/furnace/water heater alarm?      For the former, have a fire evacuation plan, call 911, turn off the gas if you can, have a meet up point, emergency kit, and a nearby freinds house to go to.     For the latter, just get outside reasonably quickly (not necessarily jump out window speed), and turn off the gas line if you can, and call the fire department to make sure its all OK in there, and then [edit] have a professional [/edit] fix whatever was releasing the CO. If you feel at all lightheaded on your way out, its time to start rushing. >
  
  You were good until you started telling people to fix things. Do not do that. Do not try to do that. Ever. Your detector might go off in your living room on the main floor and you’re like, I got this. Let me go shut off the furnace and I should be good. Down the basement stairs we go anddddd we’re dead. Why? CO settles and becomes super concentrated very quickly. There’s a reason that the fire department wears their SCBA when venting and investigating CO call outs. Especially when there’s symptoms. >
  
  Make sure its safe to fix it first, and last I checked, you need a license to move and change gas lines from the city, even if you might not for gas being fed from a tank. You can use the outside valve to turn it off to help stop the broken appliance from producing more co, but you can't mess with the inside of the appliance, or the hoses to the appliance without a licence. >
  
  Also, I said call the fire department first to call the all clear - if it is accumulated enough to kill someone, they theoretically wouldn't give the all clear.