Kids Victims of Foreclosure, Monoxide Poisoning
Family may have been using an indoor generator for months
By TODD WRIGHT
Updated 5:08 PM EDT, Mon, Dec 14, 2009
Often times, it's the parents that are considered the victims in foreclosures, but Monday showed why the real victims can be the children.
Four children were sent to the hospital after they fell ill from the effects of carbon monoxide poisoning likely caused by an indoor gas generator being used to provide electricty to their house because the power had been shut off.
The family had recently been notified by the bank that their house was being placed in foreclosure and the lights soon went out after that.
"This family had been suffering for some time," said Sgt. Frank Sousa with the Fort Lauderdale Police.
Two of the children are in critical condition and on ventilators, while two others have been treated and released. Hospital officials said the children still in their car are expected to recover.
The children's father, 36-year-old Derek Frazier, has been unemployed for some time, according to police, and the family may have been living off the generator for months. The invisible, dangerous fumes soon filled the home and the kids ingested the poison with every breath.
He told police he tried to wake the children up for school, but they weren't responding. That's when he rushed them to the hospital.
Frazier told police that he would shut the generator off when the family was home and that he would open the windows for ventilation. But his efforts weren't enough.
Police have not filed charges against the father, but they are still investigating.
First Published: Dec 14, 2009 4:27 PM EDT
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