A North Carolina family is counting their blessings after their CPI Security system alerted them to harmful levels of carbon monoxide in their home.
The Furse family was watching TV in their living room when their CPI Security Smart Carbon Monoxide Detector triggered an alarm.
“We kind of jumped up because it scared us,” Kelsey Furse said. “Immediately a lady came over [our CPI panel] and said carbon monoxide had been detected in our home.”
Because they didn’t see or smell anything out of the ordinary, the Furses were close to brushing it off as a false alarm.
“You know when you’re cooking bacon or when the [smoke detector] runs low on batteries, you simply stop the beeping and move on with your day,” Ben Furse said. “And that’s kind of what my first reaction was.”
A CPI Security central station operator encouraged them to let the fire department check it out anyway since carbon monoxide is odorless and you can’t see it.
“Gather your family and pets, and go ahead and wait outside,” CPI’s Central Station Operator said to the Furses. “The fire department will check it out for you.”
Within about five minutes, the Fuquay- Varina Fire Department arrived at their home and began testing for carbon monoxide.
“Even when the fire department came and were checking things out, I thought they were going to say, ‘Hey, everything is fine’,” Ben said.
To Ben’s surprise, the fire department detected harmful levels of carbon monoxide coming from the battery of their golf cart that was charging in the garage. CPI’s Carbon Monoxide detector picked up on the poisonous gas from inside the Furse’s home.
The Furses were shocked, but relieved that they exited the home before it was too late.
“We have a lot of animals and a lot of small heart beats in this house,” Ben said. “Had we not [let CPI call the fire department], there’s a good chance our whole family would not be here anymore.”
“We would have never known. It’s those little things that you’re paying for that you don’t really notice you need until something like this happens,” Kelsey said.
CPI’s Central Station Operator and the Furses Meet
About two months after their emergency alarm, the Furse family met the CPI Security Central Station Operator who responded to their carbon monoxide alarm. They also reunited with the firefighters from the Fuquay-Varina Fire Department who responded to their home that day.
“We usually don’t get to meet the family afterwards, so this was a good opportunity,” Fire Chief Garland Johnston said. “We all learned a lesson that day, not to charge the golf cart in your garage. And once we ventilated, everything was fine.”
To express our gratitude and our commitment to the community, CPI Security donated $3,500 to the fire department. The department will use the funds to purchase another breathing apparatus for firefighters to use while on carbon monoxide calls. Additionally, they will purchase more carbon monoxide detectors to pass out to residents while on calls.
