South Charleston , Kanawha County , West Virginia

While many new laws did go into effect at the beginning of the new year, one stands out from the rest.

A law requiring carbon monoxide detectors in certain buildings. It's all in an effort to keep you and your family safe following a tragedy at a local hotel.

"It was very important out there passed through legislation to address the issue because of the situation that we had," said assistant fire chief, Virgil White, at South Charleston Fire Department.

Almost a year ago, the Holiday Inn Express in South Charleston had a carbon monoxide leak, causing many injuries and one death.

Since then there has been a push for hotels and other public buildings to be required to install carbon monoxide detectors.

And starting Jan. 1, that requirement has become state law.

"No one's really focused on carbon monoxide detectors over the years because you don't have a lot of carbon monoxide poisonings in facilities like hotels."

At the time of the incident in South Charleston, the state did not have a requirement for the detectors to be in place.

And without the detectors it's almost impossible to know there's a leak because carbon monoxide is colorless, odorless, and tasteless. The symptoms of poisoning also don't help with detecting a leak.

"Part of the problem is people start feeling sick because it mimics flu-like symptoms, especially in the winter. So someone may think 'Well it's cold outside, now I think I'm catching the flu.' When in actuality they're coming down with carbon monoxide poisoning."

But now with the new state law, the detectors will hopefully prevent any more carbon monoxide incidents.

"Hopefully from this movement, you'll have schools, healthcare facilities, that type of lodging, that will have these type of detectors in place so we can prevent any types of deaths or injuries."

Hotels aren't the only facilities effected by this new law. Other facilities apartments, nursing homes, and daycares will be required to install those carbon monoxide detectors.

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