Water heater blamed for death of Iowa family in Mexico had rusted in humid climate, police say

[Judi Lynn]

Source: The Des Moines Register


USA TODAY NETWORK
Kevin Hardy, The Des Moines Register
Published 10:46 p.m. ET April 4, 2018



TULUM, Mexico — Propane from a faulty water heater asphyxiated an Iowa family that died during spring break, Mexican police said.

In an interview Wednesday with The Des Moines Register, Christopher Martínez, the main investigator on the case for the Fiscalia General Office in the Tulum municipality, laid out what police know of the last days of Kevin, Amy, Sterling and Adrianna Sharp of Creston, Iowa.

The family had been staying at the luxury Tao Mexico vacation community near Akumal, on the east coast of the Yucatan Peninsula, when they died.

The initial autopsies, conducted in nearby Playa del Carmen, show the four Iowans died of asphyxiation from propane inhalation, he said. The water heater in the condominium, which used liquid propane for fuel, had rusted in the humid Caribbean climate.

Read more: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2018/04/04/iowa-family-death-mexico-rusty-water-heater/488011002/

[herding cats]

1. Is propane here not scented with the sulfur here like in the US?

It reeks even at low emissions.

[Kaleva]

3. I suspect it was a rusted out or blocked flue as the articles states it was carbon monoxide

From the article:

"Exposure to very high concentrations of propane can cause death from carbon monoxide poisoning, essentially suffocation, according to National Institutes of Health."

Carbon monoxide is a by product of combustion.

Propane is heavier then air and a high concentration of it in a room described as small and without ventilation would have most likely led to an explosion when the gas came into direct contact with the flame on the water heater burner which is located near the bottom of the water heater.


The fact that the kids were found in the living room in front of the tv and each parent was found in a separate bedroom also leads me to believe it was carbon monoxide that killed the family.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

4. I haven't seen any mention of a carbon monoxide detector.

That's the real shame here. Components go bad. Especially in tropical climates, per the article.

A $50 dollar safety device is the difference between life and death.

The local officials want to stress how they take care of tourists. Maybe they need to inspect and certify these one-off rental units.

That said, this can happen in the states. A buddy of mine is an ER doc and had an elderly couple come in with flu like symptoms. After examining and questioning them he found out they spent the night in a motel near the highway. He sent the fire department there and they found a bunch of people in different stages of CO poisoning.

Some people like to carry their own plug in CO detector while on the road. Not a bad idea when you think about it.

[Kaleva]

8. When my wife and I travel, we take out plug in CO detector

During my years as a HVAC serviceman, I had three customers who suffered from carbon monoxide poisoning.

One was an elderly lady whose gas furnace had rusted out holes in the heat exchanger and flue pipe.

Another was an elderly man whose gas furnace that also had holes in the heat exchanger and flue pipe.

And the third was a renter whose landlord had hooked up natural gas space heater in the living room to a LP gas supply. This guy was in bad shape as he had blood shot eyes and acted drunk when he met me at the door but he wouldn't go to the ER.

[herding cats]

17. Carbon monoxide has been my suspicion from the beginning here.

As you point out the article makes no sense and their claim that propane causes CO poisoning is flat out false. As you say, it has to be burned before CO is present.

[Stargazer99]

2. another testimony to the failure of capitalism

why do you think the heater was in such bad shape? It was to increase profits (repair expense)

[EX500rider]

10. If you are under the impression things were better maintained in Communist Russia..

...or Cuba or North Korea you are confused.

And the Scandinavian countries are not socialists countries but capitalists ones. Strong safety nets is not socialism, state ownership of the means of production is.

You can have a capitalist country with strong safety regulations, Mexico chooses not to.

[PETRUS]

11. I'ts not that simple.

http://mattbruenig.com/2017/07/28/nordic-socialism-is-realer-than-you-think/

[EX500rider]

13. It is that simple and I will trust the Merriam Webster definition:

Definition of socialism. 1 : any of various economic and political theories advocating collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods. 2 a : a system of society or group living in which there is no private property.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/socialism

[PETRUS]

15. I gather you didn't follow the link and read.

Putting aside that the Merriam-Webster definition isn't particularly useful, the Nordic countries do, in fact, have a great deal of "collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods." The article points out for example, that state-owned enterprise represents well over half of Norway's GDP.

[EX500rider]

16. Not surprising since Norway has nationalized oil production and..

...oil products are about 59% of exports.

The government controls 31.6% of publicly listed companies.

The ideological divide between socialist and non-socialist views on public ownership has decreased over time. The Norwegian government has sought to reduce its ownership over companies that require access to private capital markets, and there is an increasing emphasis on government facilitating entrepreneurship rather than controlling (or restricting) capital formation.

Cost of living. Norway is among the most expensive countries in the world, as reflected in the Big Mac Index and other indices. Historically, transportation costs and barriers to free trade had caused the disparity, but in recent years, Norwegian policy in labor relations, taxation, and other areas have contributed significantly.

Competitiveness of "mainland" industries. The high cost of labor and other structural features of the Norwegian environment have caused concern about Norway's ability to maintain its cost of living in a post-petroleum era.


Still a mainly Capitalist country.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Norway

[PETRUS]

18. So you've conceded?

If it's "mainly" capitalist (which is arguable either way), then it's not a black and white proposition, i.e. "not that simple," which was my point.

[EX500rider]

19. No, to be a Socialist country the govt has to own all the means of production.

Not some.

I guess you could say they are 31.6% Socialist and 68.4% Capitalist.

[PETRUS]

22. I didn't say they were socialist.

I said it's not that simple. You said yes, it is that simple, and you've since backtracked. They're mixed economies, like everyone else in the OECD (or, for that matter, Venezuela).

[EX500rider]

23. I meant the definition of Socialism was simple and it is.

[PETRUS]

24. Perhaps that's all you meant.

You wrote: "Scandinavian countries are not socialists countries but capitalists ones. Strong safety nets is not socialism, state ownership of the means of production is."

I responded with a link that shows that state ownership of the means of production (among other factors that could be described as "socialism&quot is a significant part of the political economy in Scandinavian countries. Maybe you jumped to a conclusion without reading my link, or maybe you're just squirming. I don't care either way.

[LanternWaste]

20. It's flawed reasoning to infer that criticism of one form implicitly means praise for another form.

It's flawed reasoning to infer that criticism of one form implicitly means praise for another form.

But without that flaw, far too many people would have nothing of substance to say...

[EX500rider]

21. Some people certainly have nothing of substance to say..

...on that we agree.

[Dreamer Tatum]

12. You mean rust is a capitalist scheme?

seriously, your post is stupid. Not you, but your post. It's stupid. Things rust. People don't maintain their property. Are rusted cars on the road also a capitalist scheme?

[EX500rider]

14. Which country has yearly inspections of hot water heaters exactly?

[FailureToCommunicate]

5. Propane is mixed with mercaptinin in most places to give it a (bad) smell. It's unlikely

that it was propane gas that killed the family, since the supply lines are typically copper or flex stainless and would not be affected by rust in a humid climate. It also settles low along the floors and is explosive as the poster above said.
Most likely is a rusted flue pipe that allowed carbon monoxide around the unit. Maybe a 'point of use' heater under a cabinet.
Working CO2 alarms might have saved them.

[UpInArms]

6. What a luxury?

A poorly maintained condo ... no carbon monoxide detector ...

Another example of greed and the thought that if you spend a lot of money to stay somewhere “nice”, all will be well.

☹️

[Scruffy1]

7. The article clearly states propane inhalation was the cause of death.

Many CO monitors have a gas sensor combined wiith them. The smell of the ethyl mercaptin might not be enough to arouse a sleeping person. From the reporting I would have to believe that it was more likely due to CO from the flue pipe. Obviously if peopane was leaking and the water heater was firing there was a high likely hood of a fire. When the article mentioned the black marks on the wall picture that is a confirmation of CO production. A properly operating gas appliance should produce zero or very minute (1-2 parts a million) CO and no soot. If the flue was disconnected by corrosion this would lead to lower oxygen levels as the carbon dioxide from normal combusion replaced the oxygen, leading to incomplete combustion causing soot and CO production. Carbon dioxide can be lethal also, since it displaces oxygen and if the oxygen level drops below about 18% from the the normal twenty it is fatal. I always wanted to have Michelle Bachmann tie a bag around her head to prove carbon dioxide was harmless. A few years ago a waman died at a MacDonalds from a carbon dioxide leak in a soft drink machine.All in all terrible reporting and sketchy response from authorities.

[Kaleva]

9. Enough propane in the condo to kill the parents in the bedroom and the kids in the living room?

I find it hard to believe that there was a gas leak, given that LP gas is heavier then air, big enough to displace air at a height higher then the beds. Such a concentration of gas would have most likely caused a massive explosion.

Your comment:

"A properly operating gas appliance should produce zero or very minute (1-2 parts a million) CO and no soot."

A properly operating vented gas water heater or furnace should not produce more then 100 PPM of CO. That's enough to cause a headache after 1-2 hours of exposure. ASHRAE recommends a maximum indoor CO level of no more then 9 PPM. Years ago I got called to a home where the owner installed a gas furnace but did not vent it. After inspecting the furnace, I helped carry the stiff body of the home owner to the ambulance.

There are vent free gas space heaters but I'm unaware of any vent free gas water heaters.