With the start of 2013, nearly every Washington home now needs a carbon monoxide detector.

Carbon monoxide (CO) detectors alert occupants to the colorless, odorless gas that humans can't detect.

Firefighters said the alarms have been needed time after time, such as in a Kent home where five people, including a 12-year-old, were seriously sickened from CO poisoning, unaware that the house had filled with deadly gas.

 CO poisoning killed more than a 1,000 Washington residents between 1990 and 2005.

Under the new law, all new and existing single-family homes, apartments and condominiums must have a working carbon monoxide detector with the exception of homes occupied before July 26, 2009.    Those homes are not required to have an alarm until they are sold.

The alarms must be located outside bedrooms and there must be one on each level of a home.

Firefighters said the poisonous gas can kill a person in minutes and hope homeowners will install the lifesaving devices.

A carbon monoxide detector costs about $20.

The start of 2013 has also made it more difficult for convicted drunken drivers to fool ignition interlock devices, which require drivers to take a Breathalyzer test before their car will start.

The devices will now have cameras which will snap a photo of the person breathing into the device so that intoxicated drivers can’t have a sober person take the test for them.

The state's minimum wage also went up Tuesday to $9.19 an hour, the highest in the country.