A portable generator can kill a family in minutes. If a Generac, Champion, Predator, Westinghouse, or DuroMax generator poisoned someone you love, you may have a product case against the manufacturer. Graham W. Syfert is Of Counsel to the Soud Law Firm.
Call 904-383-7448Reviewed by Graham W. Syfert, Esq., Florida Bar No. 39104, Of Counsel to the Soud Law Firm. Last updated .
Portable generators kill about 85 people in the United States every year from carbon monoxide poisoning, and they have caused more than 796 such deaths since 2010, roughly 40 percent of all consumer-product CO deaths tracked by the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Most of those generators had no carbon monoxide shutoff sensor, even though the 2018 voluntary standards ANSI/PGMA G300-2018 and UL 2201 would have prevented an estimated 87 to 100 percent of these deaths. When a Generac, Champion, Predator, Westinghouse, or DuroMax generator poisons someone during a Florida or Georgia hurricane outage, the family can usually sue the manufacturer on two theories: failure to warn and design defect. In Florida, a product wrongful-death claim must be filed within two years under section 95.11(5)(e), Florida Statutes, and a survivor's anoxic brain-injury product claim within four years under section 95.11(3)(d), Florida Statutes. Graham W. Syfert, Esq., is Of Counsel to the Soud Law Firm and handles these claims in Florida and Southeast Georgia. Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
Here is the prayer for relief first. If a portable generator poisoned a member of your family, you may have a product-liability claim against the company that built it. The two theories are failure to warn and design defect. The defendant is the generator, and the manufacturer who knew the danger and sold it without a shutoff sensor anyway.
Carbon monoxide has no color and no smell. A generator running in a garage, a shed, a carport, or even outside a window can fill a house with it. People fall asleep and do not wake up. The Consumer Product Safety Commission estimates this kills about 85 people every year.
The clock is short and it is unforgiving. A Florida wrongful-death product claim must be filed within two years under section 95.11(5)(e), Florida Statutes. A survivor with an anoxic brain injury has four years under section 95.11(3)(d), Florida Statutes. If you wait, you can lose the case before you ever get to tell it.
Graham W. Syfert, Esq., is Of Counsel to the Soud Law Firm. He handles these cases in Florida and in Southeast Georgia. He does not promise a result. He does promise to read the standards, find the model, and make the manufacturer answer for what it knew.
A gasoline engine makes carbon monoxide the way a fire makes smoke. One portable generator can produce as much carbon monoxide as hundreds of idling cars. The gas is invisible and weightless and it finds its way indoors through doors, vents, and gaps you cannot see.
The poisoning usually happens after a storm, when the power is out and the generator is the only thing keeping the lights on. People run it close to the house to reach the cord. The carbon monoxide builds up faster than the body can warn anyone. Victims feel a headache, then nausea, then nothing.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission reports that since 2010, portable generators have been associated with more than 796 non-fire carbon monoxide deaths, about 40 percent of all consumer-product carbon monoxide deaths under its jurisdiction. From 2012 through 2022, where race was recorded, Black Americans accounted for 23 percent of generator-related carbon monoxide deaths, far above their share of the population.
These deaths cluster around hurricanes. After Hurricane Milton struck in October 2024, a Tavares, Florida couple was found dead from suspected carbon monoxide poisoning. They had been running a generator after losing power, and the generator sat in a shed connected to the house. Neighbors had warned them it was too close.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission issues a carbon monoxide warning before and after every hurricane season because the pattern is so reliable. Helene, Milton, Ian, and Irma each left Floridians in the dark and reaching for a generator. The storms do not kill these people. The generators do.
The cruelest fact in these cases is that the fix already exists. In 2018, two voluntary safety standards were approved that require a portable generator to detect carbon monoxide and shut itself off. ANSI/PGMA G300-2018 came from the Portable Generator Manufacturers Association. UL 2201 came from UL.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission estimates that generators built to PGMA G300 would prevent about 87 percent of these deaths, and generators built to the stricter UL 2201 would prevent nearly 100 percent. The technology is a sensor and an automatic shutoff. It costs the manufacturer very little.
In February 2022, the Commission reported that compliance with these voluntary standards was minimal in the marketplace and recommended a mandatory rule. In April 2023, the Commission issued a supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking to require carbon monoxide detection, reduced emissions, and automatic shutoff. As of this writing the mandatory rule has not been finalized. That means dangerous generators without sensors were and are still on store shelves.
The brand and the model number matter enormously. The first thing we do is identify whether the unit carried a carbon monoxide shutoff sensor or not. A generator sold without that sensor, after the 2018 standards existed, is a strong design-defect candidate.
Generac is the largest name in home generators, and it has a recall history. On September 14, 2023, Generac recalled about 64,000 GP15000E and GP17500E portable generators because the fuel tank could fail to vent and expel fuel when opened. Generac reported 27 incidents and three severe burn injuries. Those recalls were about fire and burns, not carbon monoxide, but they show a company that has shipped dangerous units.
On April 23, 2026, Generac recalled nearly 150,000 portable generators with orange and black covers sold at Home Depot and Lowe's between May 2025 and February 2026, because fuel could leak from the carburetor on first fill. Generac reported more than 100 leak reports. If your Generac unit is on a recall list, that does not by itself prove a carbon monoxide claim, but it is evidence we preserve and pursue.
Some manufacturers now sell carbon monoxide shutoff sensors and advertise them. Harbor Freight markets its Predator inverter generators with CO SECURE technology, which the company says shuts the generator off automatically when carbon monoxide reaches a dangerous level and flashes a red warning light. DuroMax sells generators with a feature it brands CO Alert, including the XP13000HXT, which it advertises as shutting down when carbon monoxide rises. Westinghouse sells tri-fuel units with a CO Sensor, including the WGen11500TFc.
These features prove the point. The fix is cheap and it works. When a manufacturer sells a sensor-equipped model in one product line and a sensorless model in another, the design-defect argument writes itself. The dangerous design was a choice, not a necessity.
Florida strict product liability comes from West v. Caterpillar Tractor Co., 336 So. 2d 80 (Fla. 1976), where the Florida Supreme Court adopted section 402A of the Restatement (Second) of Torts. Under strict liability, you do not have to prove the manufacturer was careless. You prove the product was defective when it left the manufacturer and that the defect caused the harm.
The design-defect theory says the generator was unreasonably dangerous because it lacked a carbon monoxide shutoff sensor that the 2018 standards made feasible. A safer alternative design existed. The manufacturer could have included it and chose not to.
The failure-to-warn theory says the warnings on the machine were inadequate for a hazard that kills quickly and silently. A small label that says keep outdoors does not match the gravity of a gas that can kill a family in minutes. We examine the placement, the size, the wording, and whether the warning kept pace with what the manufacturer knew about the death toll.
The manufacturer will argue comparative fault. It will say your loved one ran the generator in the garage and caused the harm. We answer that head on. The whole point of a carbon monoxide shutoff sensor is to protect against exactly the human mistake the manufacturer says is the victim's fault. A product designed to forgive a predictable error cannot blame the user for making it.
Florida uses modified comparative negligence under section 768.81, Florida Statutes. After HB 837, a plaintiff who is found more than 50 percent at fault recovers nothing. That makes the comparative-fault fight central. We frame the case so the jury sees a foreseeable misuse the manufacturer planned around in some models and ignored in others. The generator failed the person, not the other way around.
Florida renumbered its limitations statute after HB 837 took effect on March 24, 2023, and amended it again in 2024. Get the current numbers right. A wrongful-death product claim has a two-year deadline under section 95.11(5)(e), Florida Statutes. A survivor's product personal-injury claim, such as an anoxic brain injury, has four years under section 95.11(3)(d), Florida Statutes. A general negligence claim has two years under section 95.11(5)(a), Florida Statutes.
Because so many of these cases involve a death, the safe assumption is the two-year clock. Do not rely on the four-year products period if someone died. File on the shortest applicable deadline.
There is also a statute of repose. Section 95.031(2)(b), Florida Statutes, bars most product claims twelve years after the product was delivered to its first purchaser. A generator that has been in a garage for many years may be beyond reach no matter when the poisoning happened. We check the delivery date early.
For Southeast Georgia, strict product liability comes from OCGA section 51-1-11, which holds manufacturers liable without privity and contains a ten-year statute of repose. The Georgia personal-injury deadline is two years under OCGA section 9-3-33.
The single most important piece of evidence is the generator itself. Do not return it, do not repair it, and do not let anyone throw it away. The make, model number, and serial number tell us whether it had a shutoff sensor and whether it is subject to a recall. The unit must be preserved exactly as it was.
Photograph everything before anything is moved. Photograph where the generator sat, how far it was from the house, the doors and windows nearby, and the extension cords. Keep the owner's manual, the box, the receipt, and any warning labels. Save the carbon monoxide detector if there was one.
Medical records establish the carboxyhemoglobin level and the diagnosis. For a death, the medical examiner's report and toxicology are central. For a survivor, the records document the anoxic brain injury and the lasting harm. We move quickly to send a spoliation letter so no one alters or discards the proof.
The first defendant is usually the manufacturer that designed and built the generator, such as Generac, Champion, Predator's maker Harbor Freight, Westinghouse, or DuroMax. The manufacturer made the design choice to ship the unit with or without a carbon monoxide shutoff sensor.
The chain of commerce can add defendants. Under Florida strict liability, a distributor or retailer in the product's chain may be a proper defendant, though Florida law gives some sellers protections when the manufacturer is available. We name the parties who put the dangerous unit in your home.
If a landlord or another party supplied or controlled the generator, a negligence claim may also exist on its own two-year clock under section 95.11(5)(a), Florida Statutes. We sort out every responsible party at the outset so no deadline is missed and no defendant is left out.
I read the standards before I read anything else. PGMA G300 and UL 2201 are the spine of the design-defect case. If the model in your garage could have carried a sensor and did not, that is where I start.
I assume the two-year clock. These cases too often involve a death, and the wrongful-death deadline under section 95.11(5)(e), Florida Statutes, is two years. I would rather file early than explain to a family why a four-year number they read online cost them the case.
I take the comparative-fault defense seriously and I answer it with the manufacturer's own engineering. A company that sells a CO SECURE or CO Alert model in one line cannot credibly say the danger was unforeseeable in another. I make the jury see the choice the company made.
I am Of Counsel to the Soud Law Firm. I do not hold a board certification in product liability, and I make no claim to be the best at this. I read the file, I verify every fact, and I tell people the truth about their odds. Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
If a portable generator poisoned someone in your family, the first hours and days matter. These steps protect both the person and the case.
Often yes. If a Generac portable generator poisoned someone and it lacked a carbon monoxide shutoff sensor, you may have a Florida product claim against the manufacturer on failure-to-warn and design-defect theories under West v. Caterpillar Tractor Co. The model and serial number determine whether a sensor existed and whether the unit was recalled. Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
Two years. A Florida wrongful-death product claim must be filed within two years under section 95.11(5)(e), Florida Statutes. Because most generator carbon monoxide cases involve a death, assume the two-year deadline rather than the longer products period.
A survivor's product personal-injury claim, including an anoxic brain injury, generally has four years under section 95.11(3)(d), Florida Statutes. If someone died, the wrongful-death claim runs on a shorter two-year clock under section 95.11(5)(e). When in doubt, treat the case as a two-year case.
It will try, but the argument cuts the other way. A carbon monoxide shutoff sensor exists precisely to protect against running a generator in a garage or shed. Florida uses modified comparative fault under section 768.81, Florida Statutes, with a 51 percent bar after HB 837, so this fight matters. A product built to forgive a foreseeable mistake should not blame the user for making it.
It depends on the model. Some portable generators now carry a carbon monoxide shutoff sensor and many do not. Competitors advertise the feature under names like Predator's CO SECURE, DuroMax's CO Alert, and Westinghouse's CO Sensor. The existence of these features in the market supports the argument that a sensorless model was defectively designed. We verify the sensor question by model and serial number.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission estimates about 85 deaths per year from portable generator carbon monoxide poisoning, based on its most recent multiyear data. Since 2010, portable generators have been associated with more than 796 non-fire carbon monoxide deaths, roughly 40 percent of all consumer-product carbon monoxide deaths the Commission tracks.
They are the two 2018 voluntary safety standards that require a portable generator to detect carbon monoxide and shut off. The Consumer Product Safety Commission estimates PGMA G300 would prevent about 87 percent of these deaths and UL 2201 nearly 100 percent. A generator sold without that protection, after the standards existed, is a strong design-defect candidate.
Check the Consumer Product Safety Commission recall list by model. Generac recalled about 64,000 GP15000E and GP17500E units in September 2023 for a fuel-venting fire hazard, and recalled nearly 150,000 units in April 2026 for a carburetor fuel leak. Those recalls were about fire and burns, not carbon monoxide, but a recall is evidence we preserve and use to show a company that ships dangerous units.
Yes. Georgia recognizes strict product liability against manufacturers under OCGA section 51-1-11, which also contains a ten-year statute of repose. The Georgia personal-injury deadline is two years under OCGA section 9-3-33. Graham W. Syfert is Of Counsel to the Soud Law Firm and handles these claims in Florida and Southeast Georgia.
Storms knock out power, and people reach for generators to keep going. They run them too close to the house, and invisible carbon monoxide fills the home. After Hurricane Milton in October 2024, a Tavares couple died from suspected generator carbon monoxide poisoning with the unit in a shed connected to the house. The Consumer Product Safety Commission issues a carbon monoxide warning before every hurricane season for this reason.
Free consultation. The phone rings to Graham, not a call center.
Call: 904-383-7448