One man died and another was seriously sickened by carbon monoxide poisoning when propane heaters in a fish house on Leech Lake were not properly ventilated, the Cass County Sheriff’s Office told the Star Tribune. Two other men were treated and released.
Sunday, January 17, 2016, Cass County, Minnesota, deputies and emergency responders arrived at the fish house and found a 34-year-old man from Akeley, Minnesota, had tragically died. One of the other 3 men was hospitalized.
Carbon monoxide is an odorless gas that can build up in a closed space and poison people who breathe it. The most common symptoms are headache, dizziness, weakness, upset stomach, vomiting, chest pain, and confusion. CO symptoms are often described as “flu-like.”
Is There a Lawsuit?
Possibly. Evidence, including information regarding the propane heaters, will need to be gathered to determine what happened.
Attorney Eric Hageman was recently named a Minnesota “Attorney of the Year” for a wrongful death case he successfully handled in 2015. That case involved an enormous amount of “discovery”, the legal term for finding evidence by obtaining and analyzing documents, interviewing witnesses and taking all legal measures available to get answers.
Rarely is the truth of what happened immediately evident. That is why our law firm provides free consultations to injured people and their families, and then takes hard cases that require time and resources to win.
Attorney Eric Hageman can be contacted using our free consultation form or by calling 612-338-0202.
Deaths that result from unintentional CO poisoning are almost entirely preventable. In Minnesota, males age 18 to 34 have the highest risk of getting carbon monoxide poisoning. Most cases happen in the winter and are caused by propane heaters.
