A Branford man is hospitalized for high carbon monoxide levels after a leaving a car running in the garage.
Firefighters responded to a house on Leetes Island Road at 6:33 a.m. on Friday and fire officials said the resident, an elderly man, accidentally left his car running in the attached garage of his home.
The deputy chief of the fire department said the car had been running for an extended period of time before the radiator reservoir melted, causing the vehicle to overheat and the engine to seize.
When firefighters went into the house, they found the man sleeping in his bedroom.
The carbon monoxide level was 150 parts per million, which is far above safe levels, which range from .5 to 5 parts per million in a house with no gas stove to 5 to 15 ppm, near gas stoves that are adjusted properly, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Fortunately, a window was open slightly, keeping the carbon monoxide from accumulating and allowing some fresh air in, fire officials said.
Emergency crews brought the man out into fresh air, began treating him, then transported him to Yale-New Haven Hospital.
The resident is expected to be OK.
