“We should have had this done years ago, certainly, we should have done it last year,” Rep. John Soper, D-Thornton said Tuesday. “This bill, no doubt, is going to save lives, but it isn’t a cure-all.”
Soper was the House sponsor for Bill 1091, the “Lofgren and Johnson Families Carbon Monoxide Safety Act,” which requires the installation of carbon monoxide detectors in residential properties.
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Requirements also apply to rental properties as defined in the law. Property owners and their agents are protected from liability if they meet the requirements of the act.
The bill was signed into law Tuesday afternoon. Rep. Kathleen Curry, D-Gunnison and Sen. Jim Isgar, D-Hesperus, were among regional supporters; they did not immediately return calls seeking comment.
The bill was named for Parker and Caroline Lofgren and their two children, and University of Denver student Lauren Johnson.
The Lofgrens died of carbon monoxide poisoning last November, at an Aspen home where they were vacationing. Johnson died in her apartment, which did not have a detector.
Montrose County had its own carbon-monoxide tragedy last year, when Olathe resident Julian “Russ” Beamer died in his home, along with his toddler grandson, Truett Simoens. Beamer’s wife, Phyllis, was found near death and rushed to a hospital. She survived.
Truett’s mother, Heather Simoens, was vocal in her support of legislation requiring carbon monoxide detectors in homes.
She asked Montrose County commissioners to support the first attempts at a bill, which was shot down amid complaints of “nannyism.”
Simoens previously told the Daily Press she supported Soper’s new efforts.
She also raised money to buy carbon monoxide detectors for those who don’t have any, and provided them to parenting classes and to day care centers.
“I am actually pleased that it’s happening, but that doesn’t meant that it’s foolproof,” Simoens said Tuesday. “That doesn’t cover the people that don’t already have them in their homes.”
Soper said he and the new law’s other sponsors encountered less opposition this time around, in part because he met with interested parties to discuss and address their concerns.
“It’s just a tragedy people had to die to get it,” he said. “I’d hate to be the first responder and find and entire family gone. That’d bring a tear to your eye.”
Soper said people should not wait for the law to go into effect, but should take some personal responsibility and purchase detectors now.
“Carbon monoxide doesn’t care who you are. It can kill you,” Soper said.
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