MIDDLESEX COUNTY, NJ — Central New Jersey homeowners flooded local utilities and fire departments with phone calls asking for inspections of their heating systems after five Middlesex County residents were killed by carbon monoxide fumes in their homes. The story was reported in the New Jersey Star Ledger.
"Everybody's a little uptight," said Colonia Fire Chief Michael Mackey in the Star Ledger story. Mackey's department covers the neighborhood where four members of a family were found dead in their home last week of apparent carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning. It was believed that the four had been killed by the CO gas that filled their house as a result of a blocked chimney and a leaky furnace.