Four people were in stable condition in Giles County on Sunday afternoon after inhaling carbon monoxide, authorities said.

First responders rescued a man, two boys and a girl from a house south of Pearisburg about 5:45 a.m., said Giles County Sheriff Morgan Millirons. How the four are related was unclear.

After an investigation, authorities found that the house in the 300 block of Eaton Lane lost power about 1 a.m., and the residents turned on a portable generator in the basement. The residents inhaled exhaust fumes that rose to the main floor.

A sheriff's deputy and a state trooper found the man speaking incoherently outside the house, Millirons said. The four were taken to Carilion Giles Memorial Hospital and were in stable condition.

"You should always keep a portable generator outside of a dwelling no matter what the circumstances are," Millirons said. "We're lucky they were able to call and say they needed help."

-- Jorge Valencia