"Interested in responses: does burning alcohol produce CO?"

Answer: It depends.

The Sterno people say that their product (jelled alcohol) only produces carbon DIoxide and water when burned, no carbon monoxide.

But there's a bit more to it: First, ANY fuel will produce carbon monoxide when incompletely burned, including alcohol.

There is an interesting article [url= http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1818205/pdf/canmedaj01419-0054.pdf]here[/url] on a carbon monoxide poisoning incident due to burning Sterno where the Sterno cans were under a chaffing dish. Both the Sterno cans and the bottom of the chaffing dish were wrapped together in a wide collar of aluminum foil, which limited oxygen to the flames and caused incomplete combustion and a high concentration of carbon monoxide.

But even if you are burning alcohol completely and no carbon monoxide is produced, the burning itself requires oxygen, and in a closed environment the lack of oxygen will cause you to suffocate. Dead is dead.

Sue