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Generator puts son in ICU
24/04/2008 10:33 - (SA)
Gloria Edwards and Lauren Thys, Beeld
Kempton Park - A woman and her pet bird were killed by the fumes of her generator which she used during a power failure.
Aletta Dormehl, 49, of Kempton Park was found dead on Wednesday morning in her home in Casuarina Street. She died from carbon monoxide poisoning.
Her son, Gerhard, 19, was being treated in the intensive care unit at the Tembisa Hospital after being rescued from his home and regained consciousness on Wednesday afternoon.
He was taken to hospital by helicopter. Kempton Park was hit by a major power failure on Tuesday when a substation in the central business district went up in flames.
Pet bird dead too
The generator in the house had been running for about eight hours.
According to Mark Stokoe, spokesperson for Netcare 911, her body was discovered by a colleague at about 07:30 on Wednesday morning.
Dormehl is a staff nurse at an old age home.
"On our arrival the generator was still on. There was very poor ventilation, because only one window was open and all the doors were closed," Stokoe said.
The family's pet bird was also found dead in the house.
Their two dogs who also succumbed to the fumes, later regained consciousness.
Dormehl's other son, Jakes, 18, who was not a home, said on Wednesday almost all the windows had been closed because the wind was blowing.
There was also a fan running in his mother's room and a small window in her room was also open.
"The petrol fumes were severe. The paramedics all complained of serious headaches during the time they were inside the house."
About 70% of the power supply to Kempton Park was again repaired by Wednesday morning.
The Ekurhuleni Metro Council said the rest of the area would be without power for the next five days.
"The cause of the fire at the substation has not yet been determined."
Brian Statham, chairperson of the South African National Energy Society (SANES) earlier said to Beeld that the same dangers that apply to a car running inside a closed room, apply to a generator.
Doctor Gerhard Verdoorn of the Griffon poison information centre said generators should not be left running inside a building, but rather outside where all the gases could escape.
For more information on generators, send an e-mail to the Society of Electrical Contractors at info@ecasa.co.za.
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