Suspected carbon monoxide fatal to one and injures two, DeKalb Sheriff's Office reports

Monday, April 15, 2013

One person is dead and two were injured Saturday from suspected carbon monoxide poisoning in the Rainsville, Ala., area, according to the DeKalb County Sheriffs Office.

Sheriff Jimmy Harris reported that Charles Gerald Downer, 51, of Rainsville, was pronounced dead by DeKalb County Coroner Tom Wilson. Downers' body was taken to the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences for autopsy.

The two unconscious men were air lifted to Erlanger Hospital in Chattanooga, Tenn., for treatment, a news release from the sheriff's office said.

Thomas Michael Daniel, 24, of Woodville, Ala., was released from Erlanger on Sunday after being treated for carbon monoxide poisoning.

Alfred Arland Crosby, 25, of Rainsville, was moved to a room in Erlanger after treatment carbon monoxide poisoning and as of today he was listed in satisfactory condition.

The release said the men had been discovered when a relative was unable to contact him by telephone and drove to the residence, finding the three inside the house.

The relative removed the two unconscious men to the porch and phoned 911.

The release also said there had been no power connected to the house because it was being remodeled. A generator had been placed under the residence with a electrical drop cord placed through a window opening and then the window had been closed on the cord.