Woman dies after breathing carbon monoxide in closed garage with running car
Aug 14, 2024, 5:05 PM | Updated: Aug 15, 2024, 7:00 pm
VINEYARD, Utah County — A woman died Sunday after she inhaled too much carbon monoxide while in a garage with a running car.
Investigators believe the woman and a man who survived were in the car inside the garage to use the vehicle’s air conditioning.
According to the Utah County Sheriff’s Office, on Aug. 7 at 2:51 a.m., deputies and Orem police officers responded to a report of residents who inhaled gas from a vehicle at the Edgewater Geneva Townhome complex in Vineyard.
The sheriff’s office said deputies found the garage door open with a car and a man lying on the garage floor unconscious. Deputies reported smelling a strong odor of vehicle exhaust and could not stay in the garage.
“With another deputy, he re-entered the garage, and they removed the man from the garage and began to render aid to him,” the sheriff’s office press release stated. The deputies were able to get the man breathing, but he was still unconscious.
“During this time (deputies) noticed a woman’s legs were sticking out of the passenger side door in the back seat of the car,” the press release stated. “The deputies carried this woman outside and they noticed she was not conscious or breathing and had no pulse.”
The deputies administered first aid to the woman until paramedics arrived. The woman was transferred to the Timpanogos Hospital and later flown to the Intermountain Medical Center in Murray in critical condition.
The office identified the woman as 24-year-old Angelica Maria Avila Almanza of Vineyard. She was on life support and died Sunday afternoon.
The office reported that a 27-year-old woman, a 4-year-old, and two toddlers were also found inside the home. The unconscious man and other occupants were also taken to local hospitals and later released.
“Investigators believe Avila Almanza and the man were in the garage and may have been running the car motor so they could use the air conditioning,” the press release stated. “The walk-through door into the home from the garage and the roll-up garage door were closed during this time, and there was no carbon monoxide sensor in the garage.”
The office said the carbon monoxide sensors inside the apartment were activated, and four other occupants of the townhome left the building and called 911. These four were medically cleared at the scene.
