HOQUIAM, Wash. -- A Hoquiam man may have saved five people from dying of carbon monoxide poisoning, according to fire department officials.
Sunday night, Chris Cummings went to visit a friend in the 200 block of Garfield Street. When he arrived he noticed the five people inside the home, all ranging between 12 and 77-years-old, were acting strangely.
"Dizziness, nausea, my friend, he was actually falling down after he went to stand up," said Cummings.
That's when Cummings found a gasoline-powered generator running in a room in the back of the house, and ordered someone in the house to call 911.
Paramedics took the five people to the hospital.
Hoquiam's fire chief Paul Dean said carbon monoxide is odorless and colorless and victims routinely don't know they're impaired.
"We could have very well found all five of them deceased the next day," said Dean.
Four of the victims have been released from the hospital.
The 77-year-old woman remains at Virginia Mason Hospital in Seattle, according to Tammy Morford, one of the other victims.
Morford said everyone is grateful Cummings came by the home.
"We wouldn't be here without him," said Morford.
The power has been turned off at the home since October.
Cummings said his friends were using the generator for lights and a refrigerator.
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