High Levels Of Carbon Monoxide Causes Police Cruiser Crash

AUBURN, MA—An Auburn officer passed out behind the wheel and rear-ended a parked car after his cruiser filled with high levels of carbon monoxide, according to reports.

The officer and the cruiser both had high levels of carbon monoxide, and the Auburn Fire Department is testing all of the police department's vehicles at the request of the chief.

Since the crash, it has been reported that two additional Auburn cruisers were found to have high levels of carbon monoxide in them.

The officer was traveling in a 2017 Ford Explorer around 11 a.m. on Oxford Street when he lost consciousness, another officer traveling behind him, reports Fox 25 News.

"Safety is our top priority and we are concerned for those involved," said a spokesperson from Ford. "We are working with the Auburn Police Department and have a team in Massachusetts on the way to inspect their vehicles and modifications made to them. It’s premature to draw conclusions from what happened today in Auburn after reports of carbon monoxide at levels of 13 parts per million in the vehicle. According to the Massachusetts Environmental Affairs, ‘most people do not begin to feel the effects of carbon monoxide poisoning until they have been exposed to levels of at least 200 parts per million for several hours or more.’ Given this discrepancy, more investigating is required.”

News of an issue with carbon monoxide in certain police vehicles made by Ford flooded the media this week. On Monday, the police department in Austin, TX, announced it was pulling all 446 Ford Explorers from its fleet after detecting dangerous levels of the gas in those cars, reports ABC.

Earlier in the month, the Austin department saw five of its officers treated for possible carbon monoxide poisoning from being in city-issued Ford Explorer SUVs.

Ford also announced on Monday that it would fix these issues in police SUVs, covering the cost of repairs for carbon monoxide odors. The issue has been occurring in a top selling Ford police vehicle that is manufactured in Chicago.

Photo via Auburn Police Department's Facebook page. Note this is not necessarily the vehicle involved in the crash reported in this story.