Nannup couple warns of fireplace risk after husband suffers carbon monoxide poisoning

A West Australian woman has warned of the dangers of carbon monoxide poisoning from wood fire heaters after finding her husband unresponsive after he began cleaning out their fireplace.

Sophie Hedley says she returned to her Nannup home in WA's South West last week to find husband Scott unconscious on the floor.

"He was seizing, choking, he had vomited all over himself and the floor," she said.

"I could tell by his laboured breathing that he was on his last breath."

Ms Hedley said the 17 minutes it took for an ambulance to arrive was the longest wait of her life.

"He stopped breathing twice, he had two other seizures in my arms," she said.

It wasn't clear what was wrong with Mr Hedley until he regained consciousness later at the hospital and walked his wife through the lead-up to the medical episode.

Doctors discovered Mr Hedley had suffered carbon monoxide poisoning while cleaning the chimney.

"We noticed the fire wasn't [lighting] but my husband had cleaned the flue thoroughly three weeks before," Ms Hedley said.

When Mr Hedley went to clean out the chimney again, he inhaled the deadly gas.

With 40 years experience in the chimney cleaning industry, George Kulacz is familiar with the scenario.

"Smoke is fuel and if you breathe it in, it's carbonising poison," he said.

Mr Kulacz said fireplace chimneys should be cleaned by professionals at least once a year to avoid dangerous blockages.

He said smoke coming back into the room when a fireplace door was opened was a sign the chimney needed to be cleared.

"That's the beginning of carbonising poison," he said.

"Every time you put a new piece of wood on, if it smokes back into the room it needs attention."

While her husband has made a full recovery, Ms Hedley warned other fireplace owners to get a CO meter installed in their homes to detect carbon monoxide leaks.

"People with children in your houses, people with elderly parents, don't just get the flue checked," she said.

"It can seep out and kill you while you sleep."

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