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More on the CO dangers in using Portable Generators.

In August 2004, a day after Hurricane Charley took out power in much of southern Florida, Winter Haven's Robert Banks borrowed a co-worker's portable gas-engine generator and set it up in his utility room to run a few fans and lights. Two days later he and his stepson were found dead, victims of carbon monoxide poisoning.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Florida Department of Health soon discovered a disturbingly high incidence of such poisonings. More than 160 hospitalizations and at least five deaths during the 2004 hurricane season were attributed to carbon monoxide from gasoline-powered generators in or near the home. A CDC study found that the exhaust from a typical 5.5-kw generator contains as much CO as is produced by six idling cars.

To most people, safe generator use is a matter of common sense. Gasoline-engine generators were never designed for indoor use. Every generator manual includes several pages of warnings urging users to operate their generators in a dry, well-ventilated area to avoid both electrocution and CO poisoning.