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Letter to the editor

Minutes from tragedy, family is saved from deadly gas

By EILEEN SCHULTE, Times Staff Writer
Published September 3, 2007

ST. PETERSBURG - It was just before midnight on Saturday night. Sherard Allen's family had about 10 minutes to live.

But he had no way of knowing that.

He was joking around with his neighbor Theresa Jordan at a local Chevron station. But instead of hanging out, Allen made a fateful decision. He called it an early night and went home to his family's single-story yellow house at 2472 17th Ave. S.

Inside, to his horror, he discovered his brother Cory Hall, 9, his mother, Tamika Mitchell, said to be in her 40s, and his grandmother Elorador Mitchell, 59, bloated and unconscious. A generator was humming nearby.

He immediately shut off the generator and called 911. St. Petersburg Fire and Rescue responded and carried the three victims outside. Allen stood nearby sobbing.

Meanwhile, Jordan, 46, had finished her shift at the gas station and returned to her home across the street from the Mitchells.

"I saw the paramedic pull the grandmother and mother out," she said. "They were swelled up."

The swelling was an effect of carbon monoxide poisoning, said St. Petersburg Fire and Rescue spokesman Lt. Rick Feinberg. The odorless gas had seeped throughout the house from a generator the family had placed in the laundry room. They had been using it to power the house since their electricity went out on Aug. 31.

All three victims were taken to Bayfront Medical Center, Feinberg said. Cory was treated and released.

His mother and grandmother were airlifted to Florida Hospital Orlando for further treatment. Elorador Mitchell was treated and released, according to the hospital. Tamika Mitchell was still at the medical center Sunday night, but her condition was not released.

Feinberg said rescuers think the generator is new. The box and the owner's manual were found inside the home. One thing is certain: The family either did not read -- or heed -- the instructions to use the machine outdoors.

"If (Allen) hadn't come home when he did, we'd have pulled three dead bodies out of here," he said.

Eileen Schulte can be reached at schulte@sptimes.com or (727) 445-4153.

[Last modified September 2, 2007, 23:08:25]