While homeowners across the state of Massachusetts scrambled in recent weeks to comply with a new law mandating the installation of carbon monoxide detectors by Mar. 31, the preemptive efforts of the Tufts administration and safety officials ensured that campus-owned housing was prepared well ahead of schedule.
In November of 2005, Governor Mitt Romney signed "Nicole's Law," named after Massachusetts resident Nicole Garofalo, seven years old, who died as a result of an unmonitored carbon monoxide buildup in her home.
The law mandated that all buildings containing fossil-fuel burning mechanisms, which include gas stoves and furnaces, have carbon monoxide detectors installed and fully functional by Mar. 31, 2006.
According to Life Safety Specialist Perry Cayton of Tufts' Safety and Risk Management Department, Tufts was prepared to implement changes even before Garofalo's death raised sharp questions about whether basic fire safety systems protected the public against carbon monoxide.
Cayton said that the detectors, which staff implemented ahead of schedule, exceed what the state has mandated in terms of their sensitivity to even trace amounts of carbon monoxide.
"Tufts was ahead of the curve on this one in that we were trying to protect the general community," he said. "We're the only one around who really stepped [carbon monoxide detection] up with the necessary type of housing."
Many Tufts residences do not require detectors because they lack the in-house heating systems capable of producing the gas. Numerous off-campus houses and special interest houses such as the Starr house and the Schmalz house, however, do need detectors.
"For buildings with fossil-fuel burning equipment ... the new regulations require carbon monoxide detectors on every level of the home and within ten feet of each sleeping area and in habitable portions of basements and attics," according to the Massachusetts Department of Fire Services' Web site.
For on and off-campus Tufts residences, depending on their relative sizes, this means anywhere from one to 15 detectors per house are needed.
Cayton said that carbon monoxide incidents are an issue that predates the recent legislation.
"Carbon monoxide poisoning in homes over the last few years had been the cause of some unintentional poisoning," he said.
As long ago as 2000, during standard maintenance checks on fire safety systems, Tufts officials were cognizant of the threat of carbon monoxide poisoning and began planning ways to combat it.
Tufts Director of Public and Environmental Safety John King and Vice President of Operations John Roberto led the drive to install detectors. King and Roberto began requesting funding and setting up the framework for this project a year and a half ago, months before Nicole's Law came into effect.
Most of the work occurred over winter break while Tufts students were off-campus, oblivious to a massive undertaking during which three different private vendors joined with in-house facilities to ensure that installation of the approximately 150 devices would be finished before students returned to campus.
Cayton said that this process was facilitated by the extensive planning that preceded it. "It was really a whirlwind," he said. "We really wanted to get this done before people got back, and we wouldn't have been able to do that if we didn't already have a plan in place before this law came into being."
Junior David Werth, a resident of the Schmalz house, said that before he returned from winter break and noticed that his house was equipped with the new safety devices, he did not consider the danger of poisoning within residences.
"I've always heard about carbon monoxide in the context of someone leaving the car on," he said.
Werth said the University sufficiently enlightened him on the subject, hanging up notices near the new devices explaining their function and the necessity of their presence. According to the Massachusetts Department of Fire Services' Web site, carbon monoxide is a colorless, odorless gas generated by the burning of fossil fuels.
Limited levels of carbon monoxide can produce detrimental effects similar to flu symptoms, such as dizziness and nausea. Prolonged exposure in areas of high concentration can lead to unconsciousness or death.
