6 Die of Suspected Carbon Monoxide Poisoning after Power Outage

FENTON, MI – Suspected carbon monoxide poisoning killed six members of a southeast Michigan family who had been using a generator to power their home since an outage on Friday, authorities said Sunday.

Genesee County Sheriff Robert Pickell said two adults and four children — ages 2, 4, 7 and 9 — were found dead around 2 p.m. Sunday, The Flint Journal reports.

A generator had been running inside the lower level of the home in the 13000 block of Stony Brook Pass in Fenton Township, Pickell said.

Genesee County sheriff’s deputies and others — including Fenton Township firefighters, Linden police and a crew from Consumers Energy — were shaken by what they found inside the home of the family, who Pickell described as “a very loving Christian family who attends church regularly.”

“It’s very difficult just talking to the undersheriff who was in the house and saw all the bodies in the different rooms,” he told The Flint Journal. “No matter how long how many investigations we conduct, seeing young children, an entire family wiped out is just a very, very sad thing.”