On Thursday, January 18, 2018, David Winters, a 22-year-0ld service technician at Winters Heating & Cooling, received a call from service administrator Kelsy Martin, 32 of Leonardtown. Martin told Winters that a man in a California residence needed immediate assistance due to a purported lack of heat at the home.
Although Winters had already worked his full eight hours for the day, it was considered an important call to fulfill, and Winters was happy to oblige. Along with 25-year-old apprentice installer Ben Greenwell, Winters headed out to the man’s residence around 6:30 p.m. and arrived shortly thereafter.
Although they were called in to the residence because of a lack of heat, Winters and Greenwell realized that the real issue with the home was the ubiquitous presence of toxic chemicals in the air. Winters called the Bay District Volunteer Fire Department, who arrived on the scene shortly.
After examining the house, firefighters informed Winters that the house’s carbon monoxide level was measured at 330 parts per million (ppm) — a staggeringly high and dangerous reading. For reference, 7 ppm is considered the acceptable amount of carbon monoxide present in the air.
After conducting all their duties, firefighters thanked Winters and Greenwell for what they did, telling them they “very well could have saved the man’s life.”
