The La Vista Police Department wants to know why a car was left running inside a suburban home’s attached garage, which led to near-fatal cases of carbon monoxide poisoning for four people Sunday.
Rescuers were called to 9010 Mulberry Court about 8:30 a.m. Sunday when, according to police reports, a disoriented and barely conscious 31-year-old Terah Yager called 911, asked for help and collapsed.
Two La Vista police officers hauled Yager, two 12-year-old girls and 27-year-old Nicole Meyer out of the house. The officers encountered an “overwhelming odor of natural gas or petroleum-based gas” and smoke upon entering the house, according to the report and La Vista Police Chief Bob Lausten.
Each of the residents complained of feeling weak or ill. None was able to make it to the door, the report said.
Police say Meyer left a vehicle running in the garage at 11 p.m. Saturday, though investigators were unsure how long the car was left running.
Carbon monoxide levels in parts of the house Sunday morning were over 500,000 parts per million, the report said. Sustained exposure to carbon monoxide levels above 150 to 200 parts per million can be fatal.
Meyer and the 12-year-olds were treated and released from the Nebraska Medical Center, Lausten said. Yager was treated at the scene.
“We are actively investigating because of the suspicious nature of this situation,” Lausten said. — Juan Perez Jr.
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