Water Heater Leaked Poison Gas: Dozens Treated for Exposure to Carbon Monoxide at Restaurant
By Lauren Stanforth, Albany Times Union, N.Y.
Nov. 19–QUEENSBURY — A faulty water heater is to blame for a potentially deadly carbon monoxide leak at the Log Jam restaurant that sent 47 people to the hospital, authorities said.
Firefighters were called to the restaurant at 1484 State Route 9 after a patron fainted at about 9:45 p.m. Saturday.
Most of the patrons were treated at Glens Falls Hospital and two were flown to Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx for treatment in the facility’s hyperbaric chamber, which increases the amount of oxygen delivered to the body.
Glens Falls Hospital spokesman Chris Hickey would not provide information about the patients or their conditions.
Queensbury Central Fire Department Chief Joseph DuPrey said the restaurant’s water heater in the basement wasn’t venting properly and filled the dining room above it with 5,000 parts per million of carbon monoxide gas.
DuPrey said the exhaust failure must have happened almost immediately, because of the high level of gas leaking up through the ventilation system and the floor.
“It’s not uncommon for us to go to a residential home and see maybe 10 or 15 or 20 (parts per million,” DuPrey said. “To have 5,000 parts per million is an extremely hazardous condition.”
When the fire department arrived to treat the diner who fainted, two other people were complaining of headaches and nausea. A third person got sick just after crews arrived.
A test of the air detected the carbon monoxide.
DuPrey said the restaurant was evacuated within minutes. Thirty to 40 customers and about 20 employees were there. West Glens Falls EMS, the West Glens Falls Fire Department and the South Queensbury Fire Department helped transport people to the hospital. Others might have gone to the hospital on their own.
National Grid was also called to the scene to take readings and help shut off the leak. DuPrey said the town of Queensbury’s code enforcement office will work with the Log Jam to ensure that repair or replacement of the water heater is done to code.
The fire department ventilated the building and took new readings to ensure the carbon monoxide dissipated.
Hickey said the hospital activated a code yellow, which indicates a disaster situation, called in extra staff and opened up the cardiac catheterization recovery lab to double as an emergency room.
An employee who answered the phone at the restaurant Sunday afternoon referred questions to the Log Jam’s managers, who he said wouldn’t be in until today. The restaurant was closed Sunday.
Lauren Stanforth can be reached at 454-5697 or by e-mail at lstanforth@timesunion.com.
—–
To see more of the Albany Times Union, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.timesunion.com.
Copyright (c) 2007, Albany Times Union, N.Y.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.
NYSE:NGG,