A serious winter danger to think about: carbon monoxide. Many of us use generators as backup power for our homes or during hunting season, but running a generator in the wrong place could kill you. One home generator can emit a hundred times more carbon monoxide than a car. You'll be shocked at how fast the house becomes a death trap. April 2006: a woman is killed when carbon monoxide fumes fill her small apartment. The fumes come from a generator running a small heater after her power is shut off. “I don't know, my sister is gone. Like I said, they'll always get their money, but we'll never get our sister back,” Leann Buggs said. November 2006: two men die on a hunting trip when carbon monoxide overcomes them in their cabin. One man survives...barely. “All my nice friends, and nobody will ever go up there again, I don't think,”Jerry Roush said. It can happen quickly without warning. “Somebody would have found you dead in bed, most definitely,” Matt Erdmann from the Brookfield Fire Department said. They call carbon monoxide the silent killer. It's tasteless, odorless and colorless, but it kills fast. “A headache, to extreme nausea, to extreme dizziness, lethargy, and eventually it puts your brain to sleep permanently,” Erdmann said. Generators used the wrong way can be to blame. The Brookfield Fire Department showed us what happened. We fired up a generator in the basement of an abandoned home, then plugged in digital carbon monoxide detectors in the front room, and upstairs. “We're gonna see how fast, how long it takes to get questionable levels of CO inside the house,” Erdmann said. Firefighters carried their own calibrated detector to make sure we're safe. “We're in alarm mode right now,” Erdmann said. After 15 minutes, they tell us it's time to get out…fast. The firefighters, TODAY’S TMJ4’s Photographer Joe Eufemi and TODAY’S TMJ4’s John Mercure suit up with special breathing gear and an oxygen tank, the only thing that makes it safe to go back inside. We're shocked at how much carbon monoxide is in the house. “This would be lethal in one to two hours,” Erdmann said. The message firefighters want to get out: carbon monoxide detectors can save your life. “It's as necessary as working smoke detectors,” Erdmann said. Also, never, ever, run a generator in the house. Don't even put it in an attached garage. The consequences could be deadly. Many fire departments offer free carbon monoxide detectors to families in need. You can contact your local fire department for more information.