Fumes from an improperly located gasoline generator caused the deaths of four Maine revelers and their dog this month, not foul play.
The victims, ranging in age from 18 to 23, were vacationing in a remote hunting cabin and discovered dead days after arriving there.
Brooke Wakelin, 21, Keith Norris, 23, Matthew Wakelin, 18, and Deanna Lee Powers, 22 -- all from Massachusetts -- were each found dead in their beds of carbon monoxide poisoning.
It’s not clear when their simultaneous passing actually occurred but "more than likely it happened the first night there," said Oxford County sheriff Wayne Gallant.
He said a generator situated in the basement to power a small refrigerator was what gassed the foursome and their pet to death, adding “it's a shocking and terrible reminder to people that carbon monoxide is dangerous -- you never have a generator in the house."
The fumes the small engine created easily overtook two victims sleeping in a downstairs bedroom, and then the other two, who were in separate rooms upstairs, succumbed as well.
While flammables like gasoline or kerosene can have a distinctive smell even when burned, deadly carbon monoxide, also a byproduct of combustion, is virtually odorless and tasteless.
Thus, it’s a sneaky killer, causing its unaware victims to pleasantly drowse off first, before finally slaying them.
