Girl Dies, Family Sicked from CO Poisoning

An 11 year old Illinois girl died and her mother and her mother’s boyfriend suffered carbon monoxide poisoning due to a generator that was powering a kerosene heater in a makeshift living structure.

“They city had no knowledge about someone living there and there was no variance on file that allows anyone to use that commercial building for a residence,” Springfield City Manager Nathan Henne told the Battle Creek Enquirer. “To my knowledge no one was operating a business out of the building and there was no variance for living there.”

Not a Legal Residence

Deputies were called to a building bearing signs for an upholstery shop after neighbors heard what sounded like a gas powered generator. Nobody responded, so a deputy positioned his vehicle outside a window to stand on it for a better view. He saw the unconscious bodies inside.

The building was zoned for commercial use but no business appeared to be using the building.