Photographs such as the one above are submitted to Bane-Clene® regularly by concerned and interested parties around the nation.
The first gasoline driven truck mounts were introduced in the early 1970s. There has been a constant flow of this type of equipment ever since. LP gas, kerosene, gasoline and fuel oil heating devices add to the danger. Some equipment requires the truck to operate at high speed while it is being heated in use posing the danger of fire caused by an overheated catalytic converter.
In many instances, water is heated in a range that turns it into live steam. Pressure pumps force the super-heated water through aging hoses at pressures from 400 to 2,600 PSI (pounds per square inch). The danger of a broken hose is a serious threat to anyone within range of the spraying hot water .
Badly worn truck engines smoke and emit fumes when they are operating at moderate RPMs. Small gasoline, diesel and LP powered engines operate at high speed in many of the slide-in variety of truck mounts. As this equipment ages, the dangers of leaking LP tanks, loose fittings on gasoline lines and worn parts - all point to dangerous scenarios which could cause the loss of life and limb.
Another episode in the saga of carbon monoxide poisoning of carpet cleaners and innocent bystanders occurred in Pottstown, Pennsylvania when a direct-drive carpet cleaning unit was parked near a residence. The engine of the van was left running to operate the cleaning equipment. A basement door was ajar to allow the hoses to enter the house and the carbon monoxide fumes apparently entered too. Two employees and a resident of the home rushed to the hospital became dizzy and disoriented. The employees remained in the hospital, while the others were released after treatment.
In an incident in Evansville, Indiana, 225 guests had to be evacuated from an hotel and treated for carbon monoxide poisoning. A cleaning firm had parked a truck in a loading bay at the hotel. Fumes from the operating equipment entered the building’s air system.
A recent carbon monoxide poisoning by a carpet cleaning truck occurred in 2022 in Wisconsin as reported by Lucas Robinson of the Wisconsin State Journal:
Carpet cleaning van pumped carbon monoxide into apartments near University of Wisconsin campus, authorities say.
Residents evacuated from an apartment complex near UW’s campus Monday afternoon after a carpet cleaning van left running outside pumped potentially lethal levels of carbon monoxide into the building, the Madison Fire Department said.
Fire crews arrived to the scene just after 5:30 p.m. after Madison Gas and Electric alerted them of the high carbon monoxide levels at X01 Apartments, a private apartment complex located at 1001 University Ave., said Cynthia Schuster, a spokesperson for the Fire Department.
MGE staff got CO readings of about 500 parts per million on the upper floor of the building, Schuster said. Firefighters at the scene found that some residents in the building had taken down their CO detectors, removed the batteries and threw them in the hallway, Schuster said.
The carpet cleaning service’s van had been left running next to an exterior stairwell door, Schuster said.
Upon arrival, fire crews ventilated the building with fans as they went door-to-door and evacuated the 128-unit complex. Firefighters found many of the apartments had high CO readings as they cleared the building, Schuster said.
Residents were evacuated from the complex for about two hours while firefighters and MGE staff ventilated the building. Paramedics assessed two people for mild symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning but they did not go to the hospital, Schuster said.
These types of accidents and dangers cannot happen with electrically-operated Bane-Clene truckmounted carpet cleaning equipment. Electricity is the cheapest, most dependable form of energy. It’s safe - not dangerous like so many of the stored fuels. Bane-Clene truck-mount carpet cleaning equipment may be operated in a closed building without the danger of carbon monoxide poisoning. Electricity doesn’t require a lot of maintenance and it does not break down in the middle of a job. It is never hard to start. Bane-Clene truckmounted equipment uses safe, efficient electric power. Nearly every other manufacturer uses natural gas, propane gas, gasoline or fuel oil for power - all of which can be dangerous for carbon monoxide poisoning as well as fire & explosion hazards.