4 children die in Texas gas poisoning; others injured

[Calculating]

God damn, by all means keep using deadly chemicals around homes. Freaking idiots! So tired of people and their love of pesticides and poisons. My neighbor lost his dog just last year because it got into some god damn rat poison that somebody had put in their back yard. There are non-toxic ways to deal with pests....
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/4-children-die-in-texas-gas-poisoning-others-injured/ar-BBxP6MN?li=BBmkt5R&ocid=spartandhp
AMARILLO, Texas — A poisonous gas believed to have been released when someone tried to wash away a pesticide that had been sprayed under a Texas home killed four children and left six other people hospitalized, officials said Monday.

Phosphine gas was likely released when water mixed with the pest control chemical, Amarillo fire officials said. A specific cause of death had not been released for the four children Monday afternoon. The other six people who were in the home are "not out of the woods yet," fire officials said.

Crews who responded to a 5 a.m. call to the home originally thought it was related to carbon monoxide poisoning, Amarillo fire Capt. Larry Davis said in a statement. One child died at the scene and three others died at a hospital.

Officials didn't release any identifying information, including the children's ages or whether they were related. Davis said all four people who died were residents of the home.

Davis told the Amarillo Globe-News (http://bit.ly/2ivHgHv ) he wasn't sure how long the residents had been exposed to the phosphine gas before a visitor arrived Monday and found everyone sick and called 911. Phosphine gas can cause respiratory failure and in severe cases can cause a pulmonary edema, which fills the lungs full of fluid, he said.

Davis said about 10 first responders from the police, fire and medical response departments were also taken to the hospital as a precautionary measure, but none had shown symptoms of illness.

[MissB]

1. Another poster on another thread noted that the current tenants

didn't apply the pesticide under the mobile home. Someone noticed it and tried to wash it away.

[herding cats]

5. The Balderas owned the home, and it was one of them who used the poison

They'd been complaining about a rodent problem due to a ditch which runs behind the home, and had discussed getting a cat to manage the problem recently.

Davis said first responders initially checked for, but did not find carbon monoxide in the home. They discovered that an occupant of the home had tried to fumigate the house using a fumigant or pesticide that contained aluminum phosphide, a chemical that, when mixed with water, creates phosphine gas which can cause respiratory failure.

The fumigant was later identified as Weevil-Cide, which is used to, “Protect agains the most destructive pests, such as grain-boring insects, moths, weevils, beetles, and burrowing rodents,” according to UPI, the product manufacturer.
http://amarillo.com/local-news/2017-01-03/update-current-conditions-six-10-survivors-amarillo-phosphine-gas-poisoning

It's a terrible tragedy, and I can't imagine the grief and guilt the family must be dealing with right now.

[Blue Shoes]

2. This is all the fault of regulation.

We could have just cut those pesky regulations that prevent us from using extremely harmful chemicals in whatever way we want and this would have never happened. /s

[citood]

3. Already regulated

Must be a certified applicator, must not be within 15 feet of residence (epa proposes 100 in the link). I doubt I could just pick this stuff up at the home store.

Its regulated...but no regulation can prevent deliberate stupidity. Somebody with access to this chemical, who should have know better, misused it.


https://www3.epa.gov/pesticides/chem_search/reg_actions/reregistration/fs_PC-066501_1-Dec-98.pdf

[lpbk2713]

4. Here's a GoFundMe account.

Link: https://www.gofundme.com/36jphug?ssid=860750298&pos=1


So far they have raised about a thousand bucks an hour. Very good.