A "Cautionary Tale" from one of last week's BFD calls involving a keyless car, a closed garage and residents and guests who went to bed one night thinking that their car was turned off.

An early morning 911 call to BFD originated from an alarm company reporting a CO alarm in a residence in Bedford. The alarm company called the house but no-one picked up. Bedford PD and BFD were dispatched, evacuated the occupants safely, and turned the car off. Inside the house, the carbon monoxide levels were dangerously high and the house had to be ventilated. The occupants, including two visitors from overseas, were evaluated and cleared by our EMTs. Due to the functioning CO alarm and some luck involving the location of the garage vs. the bedrooms vs. the air conditioning unit, this story has a happy ending. However, according to a recent NY Times article at least 28 people have died since 2006 from incidents of keyless cars left on in garages overnight.

Please take care if you have a keyless car to always make sure it is turned off when you leave it.