Get ready for the Bill Parrish Family Memorial 3-on-3 Basketball Tournament

POCATELLO — Get your teams in place. A basketball tournament honoring a Pocatello family lost to carbon monoxide poisoning more than a decade ago will return later this month with a continued focus on preventing similar tragedies.

The 12th annual Bill Parrish Family Memorial 3-on-3 Basketball Tournament will be held July 31 and Aug. 1 in the north parking lot of the ICCU Dome. Organized by the No C.O. Foundation and the Chubbuck Lions Club, the tournament raises money for carbon monoxide safety education while providing free carbon monoxide detectors to area families.

The event honors Pocatello dentist Bill Parrish, his wife, Ross, and their sons, Keegan, 14, and Liam, 12, who died in February 2014 after carbon monoxide from a faulty gas water heater filled their home while they slept. The family was discovered after they failed to attend church and a regular Sunday gathering. Investigators later determined the home did not have carbon monoxide detectors.

In the months following the tragedy, Bill’s sister, Carri Parrish Curtis, and her husband, Brian, established the No C.O. Foundation to educate the public about the dangers of carbon monoxide and help ensure families have working detectors in their homes.

“We wanted to make sure this tragedy that happened to our family never happens to anyone else,” Parrish Curtis said. “Dying from carbon monoxide poisoning is completely preventable. It’s vital that everybody has at least one detector in their home, RV and even vacation dwelling.”

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According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, accidental carbon monoxide poisoning kills more than 400 Americans each year and sends more than 14,000 people to emergency rooms. Idaho Department of Health and Welfare data shows Idaho hospitals treat an average of 140 to 170 people annually for accidental carbon monoxide exposure, while the state records two to four accidental, non-fire-related carbon monoxide deaths each year.

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Parrish Curtis said the foundation has already seen firsthand evidence that its mission is making a difference. Several families, including one of her own relatives, have reported that detectors provided through the foundation alerted them to dangerous carbon monoxide levels, allowing them to escape before anyone was injured.

The annual tournament was created as a tribute to the Parrish family, who shared a love of basketball. Teams will compete in nine youth and adult divisions named in honor of Bill, Ross, Keegan and Liam.

Registration is $50 per youth team and $100 per adult team. Online registration remains open through 11:59 p.m. Thursday, July 30, at chubbucklions.org/3on3register

The tournament is open to the public whether or not they are participating. Organizers say visitors can enjoy food trucks, family activities and shaded seating while picking up a free carbon monoxide detector. The Chubbuck Lions Club will also collect used eyeglasses during the event.

For those unable to attend, the No C.O. Foundation works with fire departments throughout Idaho to distribute more than 100 free detectors each year. Additional information is available at cokills.org.

For more than a decade, the Chubbuck Lions Club has partnered with the No C.O. Foundation to organize the tournament. In addition to promoting carbon monoxide safety, proceeds support Lions Club programs that help preserve and restore sight and hearing in communities throughout the region.