St. Philip School Principal In Fair Condition At RIH After CO Poisoning

St. Phillip School Principal Darlene Walsh and her husband Dick are in fair condition at Rhode Island Hospital; their son in stable condition at Kent after suffering carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning March 1 due to a faulty furnace.

East Greenwich Building Inspector Wayne Pimental reports the town's mechanical inspector John Counts has ruled the cause of CO build up in their 170 Watch Hill Road home in East Greenwich was a poorly ventilated furnace. 

"The unit's been taken apart. He's determined that the unit was not getting proper combustion air," Pimental said. "It wasn't getting the fresh air needed for fossil fuel to burn properly."

The furnace was in the basement in a room closed off from the rest of the house, Pimental said. The old furnace is now being removed and a new one will be installed. 

"People need to put in a CO detector," he said, "It's a silent, deadly killer."

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