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A crowdfunding campaign created Sunday could help family members pay for the burial costs of three Coalport residents who died Saturday as a result of accidental carbon monoxide poisoning.
"It's a sad time for Coalport," Coalport Mayor Peggy Maddalena said. "I'm sure the people of Coalport will pull together to support those involved in this tragic incident."
A malfunctioning furnace caused carbon monoxide to leak into a Main Street residence Saturday, killing 67-year-old Robert McClellan, his 57-year-old wife, Brenda, and her brother, Ronald Jasper, 68, state police reported.
The crowdfunding campaign was created on www.gofundme.com by Tina Oshall to help pay for the family's funerary costs. By late Monday afternoon, 63 people had donated nearly $4,000 to
the campaign.
Coalport resident Bill Andrews said he grew up with Jasper, and folks around town affectionately referred to the man as "Jed."
"I doubt you could find someone in the town that didn't like Jed," Andrews said Monday. "The whole family was really very nice. Their deaths are a shame and a blow to this community."
Located in an apartment above a business, the McClellans' residence was filled with toxic vapors after a coal-burning furnace malfunctioned, allowing flames to travel into the furnace's coal hopper.
The business owner called 911 when they entered the building Saturday and discovered it was full of smoke.
The Glendale Volunteer Fire Department responded to the call, but reported Jasper and the McClellans were already dead when they arrived, Assistant Fire Chief Hugh Yeckley said.
"We believe they passed at some point in the night," Yeckley said.
The fire department did not find any working smoke or carbon monoxide detectors in the residence, but the business below the residence did have a smoke detector, he said.
"We think the batteries may have been weak," Yeckley said. "But even if they weren't, there's no way they would've heard it upstairs."
Smoke and monoxide detectors might have saved the residents' lives.
"I really think -- with how spread out the people were in the apartment -- that at least one of them might have heard a detector going off and been able to get everyone out in time," Yeckley said.
When the fire department arrived, the carbon monoxide levels inside the residence were measured at about 800 parts per million, but the door to the apartment was opened by the business owner prior to the firefighters' arrival.
"The (business owner) tried to notify the residents of the smoke, but they were already unresponsive," Yeckley said. "We think the carbon monoxide levels inside the residence could've been more than 1,000 ppm before the door was opened."
At 1,000 ppm, carbon monoxide exposure is deadly after only a few hours exposure, he said.
According to the National Carbon Monoxide Awareness Association, carbon monoxide poisoning kills about 1,200 people annually and is responsible for about 50,000 emergency room visits each year.
Carbon monoxide is odorless, colorless and tasteless, making detection without proper equipment difficult, the association reported.
Created by the incomplete combustion of fossil fuels, carbon monoxide can be found in home appliances such as furnaces, dryers and space heaters as well as numerous every-day outlets such as vehicle exhaust and tobacco smoke.
While difficult to detect, the association advised people with carbon monoxide concerns to contact their local fire departments, which can help residents detect carbon monoxide leaks as well as provide information about smoke and carbon monoxide detectors.
Go to the Centers for Disease Control website, www.cdc.gov/dotw/carbonmonoxide/index.html, for more information about carbon monoxide poisoning.
To donate to the McClellan gofundme, go to www.gofundme.com/f/29n08f655c.
Mirror Staff Writer Ike Fredregill is at 814-946-7458.