The County Coroner’s Office has ruled the deaths of a Goleta couple staying in a home in Cambria as “accidental” due to inhaling poison gas.
According to Sheriff’s spokesman, Tony Cipolla, on Feb. 8 deputies were dispatched to a home in the 8100 block of Lone Palm Dr., Cambria for a “call for service,” that ended up being a coroner’s case.
When they arrived they found a man and woman dead inside the home. They were identified as John Ruskey, 53 of Goleta, and his wife, Kristen Ruskey, 49.
“An autopsy and toxicology test were performed,” Cipolla said in a March 12 news release. “The Coroner has determined John Ruskey died of toxic effects of carbon monoxide [CO] and Kristen Ruskey died of toxic effects of carbon monoxide and ethanol.”
He added that both of their deaths have been ruled accidental. The home had a CO monitor but it had been been disabled.
“A combination carbon monoxide/smoke detector was found in their room, but it was found to be disconnected,” Cipolla said.
Lone Palm Drive is a frontage road on the ocean side of Hwy 1 just north of Cambria. It turns off the highway and runs north for a short distance and is mostly undeveloped save for a few homes.
According to the CDC, “carbon monoxide is an odorless, colorless gas that can cause sudden illness and death if inhaled.”
Symptoms include “headache, dizziness, weakness, upset stomach, vomiting, chest pain, and confusion. CO symptoms are often described as ‘flu-like.’”
CO is produced by the burning of gasoline in a car or truck, but indoors more commonly by natural gas in an appliance that isn’t efficiently burning the gas.
When natural gas is properly burned with the correct mix of fuel and air, it produces carbon dioxide, water vapor and heat and burns in a blue flame.
When improperly burned natural gas can produce carbon monoxide (CO) and burns with a yellow flame. Fuel oil, kerosene, charcoal and wood also produce CO gas when burned.
This is why gas appliances especially floor furnaces, must be regularly cleaned and inspected. It’s also a good reason to make sure chimneys are periodically cleaned of soot.
If CO builds up in an enclosed space like a home, it is deadly. Breathing CO reduces the blood’s ability to carry oxygen. It can reach dangerous levels indoors or outdoors.
“If you breathe in a lot of CO,” the CDC said, “it can make you pass out or kill you. People who are sleeping, drunk, or under the influence of other substances can die from CO poisoning before they have symptoms.”
For more information on CO poisoning, see: www.cdc.gov/carbon-monoxide/about/index.html.
CO monitors are required by law. The California “Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Prevention Act” requires all residences with an attached garage or a fossil fuel source (gas stove, fireplace, gas furnace, for example) to have functioning carbon monoxide alarms.
