11-Year-Old Boy Dies in Blizzard First Casualty in Boston
An 11-year-old boy died Saturday in Boston, the first blizzard death reported. The cause of death was carbon monoxide poisoning, when his father let him sit in a running car to keep warm, while his father was shoveling snow to get the car out of a snow pile.
Boston Fire Department spokesman Steve MacDonald said the boy was helping his father shovel the snow in the Dorchester neighborhood but got cold, so his father started the car and the boy got inside the vehicle. MacDonald said the car exhaust was covered by a snow bank, causing the fumes to collect in the car.
“I don’t know how long the boy was in the car, at some point the father was still working and was unaware of the boy’s condition,” said Boston firefighter Octavius Rowe, who lives nearby and went to help. “So very, very unfortunate.”
When the boy was overcome by the fumes, the father went into respiratory arrest and emergency workers took both to Boston Medical Center, officials said. The boy was pronounced dead at the hospital. No names were released.