Gas Leak Lands Church Goers in the Hospital
By DAN STAMM
Updated 11:43 PM EST, Sat, Nov 7, 2009
A carbon monoxide emergency at a Prince George’s County church left a woman and two children hospitalized Saturday night.
Officials received a tip call around 6:30 that a person at Saint Bernard’s Church in Riverdale was feeling faint and dizzy. P.G. County firefighters and paramedics responded to the scene to find several more people with similar symptoms.
Officials took readings in the church and found a CO level of 1,300 parts per million -- far above the normal level of zero to 30, according to P.G. County Fire/EMS spokesman Mark Brady.
The culprit for the gas leak appeared to be a church boiler. Earlier in the day work was done to the boiler, a witness told officials.
The building was evacuated and all the utilities were shut down. CO levels started to go down once everything was turned off, said officials.
Besides the people hospitalized about 10 other people at the church were given oxygen on the scene, said officials.
First Published: Nov 7, 2009 10:49 PM EST
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