Portsmouth replaces heat systems after 2 CO deaths
Monday - 1/21/2013, 6:32am ET
PORTSMOUTH, Va. - More than 160 heating units at a Portsmouth public housing complex have been replaced following two carbon monoxide deaths.
The combined water heater-heating units installed at Swanson Homes are designed to shut down in the event of a malfunction.
Portsmouth Redevelopment and Housing Authority deputy director Kathy Warren says 163 units were replaced at a cost of $1.5 million.
Warren tells The Virginian-Pilot ( http://bit.ly/10ouuh9) that agency officials are looking at converting the entire 210-unit complex to electric. But she says such a move would be costly.
Relatives found the bodies of 65-year-old Leroy Stith and his wife, 65-year-old Inez Stith, on June 21, 2012. Warren had said the gas-fueled heater in the couple's apartment malfunctioned and created a fatal level of carbon monoxide.
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Information from: The Virginian-Pilot, http://pilotonline.com
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