Berkeley Council Backs Carbon Monoxide Devices
Debra Levi Holtz, Chronicle Staff Writer
Wednesday, December 8, 1999
©2000 San Francisco Chronicle

URL: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/1999/12/08/MN92396.DTL


BERKELIUM -- Carbon monoxide monitors may soon become as widespread as smoke detectors in Berkeley, following a vote by the City Council last night.

The council voted unanimously without discussion to draw up legislation requiring carbon monoxide detectors in all apartments and new residential construction to help prevent another deadly accident like the one that claimed the life of a 17-year-old girl last month.

Mayor Shirley Dean said she introduced the measure because the girl's death emphasized the need for property owners to protect the heath and safety of their tenants. She also proposed a citywide program to educate residents about how to avoid carbon monoxide poisoning.

Council member Dona Spring suggested last night that the proposed law require landlords to have annual inspections of gas heaters in all city apartments.

City officials continue to investigate what caused a gas heater to spread lethal levels of the odorless gas through a downtown Berkeley apartment on November 24.

The fumes killed Seetha Vemireddy and injured her 15-year-old sister. The girls had arrived from India only a few months before and were staying as houseguests of the building's owner, Lakireddy Bali Reddy, a family friend.

After the accident, utility crews measured hazardous levels of the deadly gas in 26 other apartments in the building at 2020 Bancroft Way. The tenants of those units were evacuated over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.

Since then, the city has hired a forensic engineer to figure out why the gas heaters malfunctioned. Last week, building officials asked the property owner to install carbon monoxide detectors in each of the building's 106 units.

Inspectors found insulation debris and metal flashing clogging the vent behind the second-floor apartment where the girl died. They have not yet determined, however, whether the debris was left over from a roofing job performed at the complex last year.

Last night, Dean also asked city staff to monitor permit requirements for roofing work more closely, including the inspection of vent pipes during routine roof inspections. She said the city should consider increasing penalties for faulty work that endangers the safety of residents.

In her proposal, Dean directed the city manager to determine which product safety standards to follow when requiring property owners to purchase carbon monoxide detectors since there is no single federal guideline governing the devices.

Berkeley landlord representatives have said they will not object to purchasing the monitors, which range from $20 to $50, particularly if they can pass the cost on to tenants through rent increases.

Laws that make residential carbon monoxide sensors mandatory are already in force in Chicago, Toronto, New Jersey and West Virginia.


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