Ken Lederman stood in the family's television room in the basement.
"Our dog and I began to not feel well," said Lederman. "When I got up to take the dog outside, I collapsed."
His wife called 9-1-1.
"They quickly determined that there was carbon monoxide in the house," Lederman said. "And they evacuated everyone and the pets from the building," including his 10-year-old daughter.
Medics nearly just as quickly realized the CO was coming from the gas furnace in the room next door.
"The exhaust was coming out in the room," said the technician who checked out the furnace.
It was working properly, he said. But it was competing with a fireplace for oxygen in the house and began emitting carbon monoxide.
The latest figures from the state Department of Health show that in 2013, 10 people died from accidental carbon monoxide poisoning and 28 people were hospitalized.
Carbon monoxide "is a dangerous substance," said Seattle Fire Department spokesman Kyle Moore. "You can't smell it, you can't taste it, and it can kill you."
Carbon monoxide detectors are now required by law in all multifamily dwellings. They are required in single family homes but only when the homes are sold.
"We like to place them about eye level," said Moore. "And the reason we do that is because at eye level you can test to see if the battery is still working easily. If you put it on your ceiling like a smoke detector, you probably won't check it as much."
Moreover, the detector should be 15 feet from all appliances. At least one should be near a bedroom.
"I am talking to you because my wife saved my life," Lederman said.
The family does have two CO detectors in its Laurelhurst home.
"But they weren't very strategically located and they didn't have fresh batteries," Lederman said.
But they will from now on, he says. Lesson learned.
"Everybody is fine," he said. "And we were very lucky."
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