Family basks in warmth from furnace donation

A house can be warmed by something other than indoor heating. Sometimes it comes through the kindness of others.

Last week, two Colorado Springs businesses donated and installed a new furnace after a mother and two children were treated for carbon-monoxide poisoning caused by their malfunctioning 40-year-old furnace.

"I was praying that God would send me somebody who can help me and my family," Rose Mercado, 41, said. "And he sent somebody."

Mercado is a single mom raising Luis, 10, Maya, 11, and 18-year-old Leo, who left for Marine boot camp Dec. 1.

The family was relying on space heaters to warm their small ranch house in southeast Colorado Springs because Mercado didn't have the money to get the furnace fixed.

To make it through the freezing nights, the Mercados heated one bedroom, with Mercado and Maya sleeping on the bed and Luis sleeping on a bedroom sofa.

Last Tuesday as outside temperatures plummeted below zero, Mercado asked a friend to fix the furnace. Hours after he got the furnace running, the family experienced headaches, nausea and burning eyes.

When Luis collapsed, Mercado called 911. The family was rushed to Memorial Hospital, where they were treated for carbon monoxide poisoning and released.

Soon after, Mercado got a call from Randy Carnahan, a lead technician at Heating and Plumbing Engineers in Colorado Springs.
The company, which sponsors the annual Toy Run for Kids event, was looking for another way to help needy families.

In the spring, HPE's owner decided to buy and install a furnace during the holidays for a family that needed one. Total cost would be about $3,000.

Colorado Springs Utilities hooked Carnahan up with the Mercados. When he called Mercado to say the family would be getting a free furnace, she thought, "My angels have come to rescue me."

HPE planned to purchase the furnace from Sid Harvey Industries, a retailer of furnaces and household appliances in Colorado Springs. But when store manager Joe Tucker heard of Mercado's plight, he asked his corporate office in Garden City, N.Y., to donate the furnace.

"I wanted to see what we could do to help them," Tucker said.

On Thursday, five HPE employees installed the furnace and brought the house's heating system up to code. They also installed donated carbon-monoxide detectors. Mercado made the installers a pot of chile and gumbo to show her appreciation.

"Am I dreaming?" Mercado said. "Did they really do this for me?"

For Maya, who cried with happiness after the furnace was installed, the house feels like home again.

"It's wonderful," she said. "It's so warm."
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CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0367 or mark.barna@gazette.com. 

SYMPTOMS

Carbon-monoxide poisoning can be difficult to diagnose because its symptoms mimic those of other illnesses. The most common symptoms of carbon-monoxide poisoning are headache, dizziness, weakness, nausea, vomiting, chest pain and confusion. High levels of carbon monoxide can cause loss of consciousness and death. If several people in a house experience symptoms at the same time, call 911 and get out of the house. - U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

PREVENTION

• Have your heating system, water heater and any other gas, oil, or coal burning appliances serviced by a qualified technician every year.
• Do not use portable flameless chemical heaters (catalytic) indoors.
• Install a battery-operated CO detector in your home and check or replace the battery when you change the time on your clocks each spring and fall.
• Make sure gas appliances are properly vented.
• Have chimneys checked or cleaned every year.
• Never patch a vent pipe with tape, gum or something else. This kind of patch can make CO build up in your home, cabin, or camper.
• Never use a gas range or oven for heating.
•Never use a charcoal grill, portable gas camp stove or barbecue grill indoors, and never burn charcoal indoors.
• Never use a generator inside your home, basement, or garage or near a window, door, or vent.

Source: U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention