The members of the Potsdam Fire Department would like to extend their thanks to Canton-Potsdam Hospital for their recent donation of 12 Carbon Monoxide Detectors to the Potsdam Fire Department as part of their community outreach. This donation will assist the Potsdam Fire Departments in their successful fire prevention program in providing a CO detector to those in our response area who may not have a working CO detector in their home.

The members of the Potsdam Fire Department would also like to remind the residence that carbon monoxide is invisible and odorless. It can come from a malfunctioning fuel-burning appliance such as a furnace, water heater, gas oven or range, blocked flue or vent or a car left running in an attached garage. It is a byproduct of incomplete combustion of wood, coal, charcoal, gasoline, kerosene, natural gas or oil. CO is dangerous because it robs blood of oxygen, suffocating the person from the inside out in as little as 15 minutes. Nationwide research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reveals more than 15,000 Americans get sick from accidental, non-fire related exposure to carbon monoxide (CO) every year, and another 500 die.

While carbon monoxide is a silent killer, deaths from this gas can be easily prevented with the simple installation of a carbon monoxide detector! The Potsdam Fire Department urges everyone to be safe and install a CO detector in your home!!