New Source: JusticeNewsFlash.com
12/13/2010 // West Palm Beach, FL, US // Sandra Quinlan // Sandra Quinlan
Pikesville, MD—Eleven people, including three police officers, were sickened as a result of a carbon monoxide leak in a house along the 4100 block of Colby Road on Sunday, Dec. 12, 2010. Two unidentified victims succumbed to the noxious fumes and were pronounced dead shortly after, as reported by WBALTV.com.
According to information provided, Baltimore County Fire Department officials described Sunday’s carbon monoxide leak as a “mass casualty incident.”
Authorities were dispatched to the Pikesville residence after a neighbor called 911, reporting that someone inside the home might be dead.
When three police deputies arrived on the scene and entered the house, they too were exposed to the gas and subsequently fell ill.
Baltimore County Fire Division Chief Michael Robinson reported, “The first-arriving units were Baltimore County police. They entered the dwelling and were quickly overcome by some unknown substance.”
That unknown substance turned out to be carbon monoxide. Inside the residence, firefighters apparently measure levels of the substance at 400 parts per million, which is “more than 11 times the level at which carbon monoxide detectors begin to sound”.
However, there were no carbon monoxide detectors in the rented home where the incident occurred. A county ordinance mandates that all rented properties have carbon monoxide detectors installed in them.
The officers and eight other victims were rushed to a trauma center for treatment. Nine of the 11 victims survived the carbon monoxide leak.
Robinson warned, “Should you develop any symptoms—light-headedness, dizziness, certainly unconsciousness—get out of the house as quickly as possible and contact us by calling 911.”
Though investigations are ongoing, authorities appeared to believe a malfunctioning gas furnace might have caused the leak.
Heather Meekins, who lives near the home, contended, “It’s very sad and it’s very alarming, and it’s sad that it sometimes takes this kind of a thing for people to understand it’s not costly to buy a carbon monoxide detector. Those types of things do save lives.”
A full probe into the double-fatal Maryland carbon monoxide leak was expected to be underway.
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