Carbon monoxide detectors may soon be required in Louisiana homes with generator installations
NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) - A bill requiring homes in Louisiana with professional generator installations to have a carbon monoxide detector has passed in the state legislature. It now heads to Governor John Bel Edwards’ desk.
“It’s such a simple tool but it’s life-saving technology,” said Rep. Stephanie Hilferty, R-Metairie, who co-authored HB293. She said it’s an important piece of legislation that hits close to home.
“During Hurricane Ida, we were staying at my mother’s-in-law house, which had a whole home generator. She did not have a carbon monoxide detector installed,” Hilferty said.
Hilferty said her husband brought the detector from their own home. A few days after the storm, the alarm sounded early in the morning while her family was asleep.
“It went off around three or four in the morning and alerted us all to get out of the house, air it out, and take the proper precautions,” she said. “Had that not been in place... it scares me to think what would have happened.”
Hilferty said that even if everything is electrically wired properly in the house, “you just never know what’s going to happen.”
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She said it is one step forward when it comes to generator safety for Louisiana residents.
“The installation piece and how and where the units are installed is certainly something we’re looking at but we did not bring a bill this year to address that piece,” she said.
Those conversations are taking place for later on, she said. But for now, she’s hoping this bill, which she expects to become law, will help save more lives.
Once signed, the law would take effect on Jan. 1, 2023.
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