OXFORD, Ohio —

Jacob Maten is a college student who is happy to show off a new gift from his father, a carbon monoxide detector for his dorm room.

"I stopped at Home Depot on my way down here," said Jacob's father, Mike Maten.

Mike Maten made the four-hour trip from Michigan to Oxford, Ohio, to visit his son at McCullough-Hyde Memorial Hospital. Jacob, a Miami University student, was hospitalized Thursday for suspected CO poisoning.

"I'm feeling a lot better than yesterday. I'm still just filtering out everything," Jacob Maten said.

Jacob lives at Hillcrest Hall on the Miami campus.

He wasn't feeling well Thursday and was sleeping when firefighters began banging on his door.

"I just started freaking out as soon as I woke up. There were alarms blaring, firefighters telling me to get up and get out right now. It's like, 'Oh my God what is happening?'" Jacob Maten said.

"I'm not sure how they knew he was in his room, but thank God they did," said Mike Maten.

More than 250 students were forced from their rooms overnight due to CO levels in the building. They were given the all-clear Friday morning.

Miami University officials declined an interview but released the following written statement:

"We are updating you on an incident that occurred yesterday in Hillcrest Hall on Western campus. The Miami University Police Department was notified by a resident that his personal carbon monoxide detector was sounding an alert. We called the Oxford Department, they detected carbon monoxide, evacuated the building, and began investigating the source. By early evening, it was clear that we would not find and repair the source of the carbon monoxide in time for students to return to the hall to sleep. More than 250 students were assigned a temporary room on campus and they have just been notified that they can return to the building at their convenience.

Because Hillcrest Hall is heated by geothermal energy, we knew there was no combustion source related to heating and cooling in the building that could have caused the elevated levels. Miami University has been and continues to be in full compliance with the requirements of the state fire code for the facility. Our physical facilities department staff partnered with the Oxford Fire Department to investigate throughout the night. The source of the carbon monoxide was ultimately identified as exhaust from a hot water heater that is used to heat the water for showers and faucets. Under some conditions, the exhaust was pulled back into the building from outside through small openings in the structure of the building, which have been repaired. Both Miami's physical facilities staff and the Oxford Fire Department have tested the building multiple times and have found no remaining carbon monoxide. We are in the process of inspecting all other residence halls on campus; thus far, no other issues have been discovered.

We have installed temporary carbon monoxide detectors in Hillcrest Hall and in an abundance of caution are determining how best to install them in all halls as a permanent system. We will provide additional information and an update on our corrective actions in future communications.

We are grateful to, and proud of, the Hillcrest students who alerted the MUPD to this situation."

On Friday, students said they are happy to sleep in their own beds again but not without concern.

"The only reason it got caught is because there was a carbon monoxide detector in some kid's room," said student Will McKay.

Student Sophie Kwiatikowski said, "If that one person didn't have a personal detector, it wouldn't have been detected."

Many students said their parents already bought them their own CO detectors.

MASSILLON, Ohio — Afton Taylor died as a result of carbon monoxide poisoning on a routine boat trip in 2019. Now, his parents want to warn others.

Water is the backdrop of some of Krissy and Doug Taylor’s best memories.

Doug grew up on his father’s boat and, as tradition, began taking his kids on that same boat when they were young, too.

“It’s a boat I’d been on for 20 years. We are very seasoned boaters,” he said.

Doug is a North Canton firefighter. He said he always took proper safety precautions on the boat, especially with his children.

June 30, 2019, started out like any other trip to Salt Fork State Park. The couple brought their 7-year-old son Afton and his younger brother out on the boat.

“We were just boating as we normally do,” said Krissy.

“It was one of the best days we’ve ever had. He didn’t even fight with his brother that day,” said Doug.

That day turned into a tragedy as they were getting ready to leave.

“We’ve been going through no-wake zones with dangling feet in the water for as long as I can remember,” said Doug Taylor.

Afton was sitting in the back of the boat as it was moving at a slow speed in the no-wake zone.

“I looked over [to see] if he was OK, he gave me a thumbs-up, I went back to rolling up a rope to make sure everything was secure for the trip, and then he was gone,” said Doug. “That was the last time we saw him before we had to identify his body.”

The couple came to the realization that Afton fell off the boat. Officials searched for the little boy for hours and the next day, using sonar equipment, they found his body. It was concluded that he drowned.

“We knew our son could swim. We thought that was very odd,” said Krissy.

“My son was a swimmer. He’s been in the water since he was 6 months old,” added Doug.

It was a month later when the official report came out: Afton died of carbon monoxide poisoning.

“He was gone before he even touched that water,” said Krissy.

Officials warn the colorless and odorless gas can emit from the engine and can create a toxic vacuum of fumes at the back of the boat. It’s especially dangerous at slow speeds or when the boat is docked and the engine is on.

“It is an open boat, mid-engine boat and going at a slow speed, the exhaust is underneath the boat, underneath the back deck,” said Doug.

Doug, being a firefighter and an avid boater, never knew about the dangers of carbon monoxide in the open water. Krissy said they had never been warned about carbon monoxide poisoning on a boat.

“We’ve all sat back there. We all sat on those back seats, too. It’s what they’re for,” she said.

Now, through their pain, they want to share their story.

“When we lost Afton, there was just this hole right here and it never ever gets filled again, and it’s just this emptiness. That’s a good and bad thing because when I feel that emptiness, it’s like I have to do something. We have to do something. We have to tell other people about this and that’s what we are doing,” she said.

They want other parents to know that smaller children should never be in the back of the boat at low speeds, as carbon monoxide can poison their bodies at a faster rate.

“The proper way is for everybody to sit in the front of the boat,” said Doug. “Even the open air boats can be and is very dangerous to small children if you don’t know.”

T.J. Martin with the Parma Fire Department said it is important to buy a carbon monoxide detector for your boat, no matter what type it is and, especially, if you have a small indoor cabin.

“When you take the cabin of a boat, which is substantially smaller than a house, and emit carbon monoxide to the area, the area fills up exponentially quicker,” said Martin.

Martin said if you feel like you may have carbon monoxide poisoning, get into fresh air as fast as possible, away from the engine, and call 911.

The Taylors are working to create a law in Ohio dedicated to Afton and creating more awareness about carbon monoxide poisoning on boats.

They have started “Love Like Afton,” which is an organization dedicated to spreading information about carbon monoxide poisoning and dedicated to acts of kindness, like buddy benches at schools. They said their boy had a big heart and loved everyone.

“We just want to spread his love the best we can,” said Krissy.

Symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning include a headache, weakness, fatigue, nausea or vomiting, shortness of breath, confusion, blurred vision, and loss of consciousness.

This story was originally published by Jessi Schultz at WEWS.