Date: November 7, 2018 Nature of call: Carbon Monoxide Detector Sounding
Address: 11 Pleasant St Time of Call: 12 midnight
Type of Building: 6 unit multifamily Number of Residents: 16
Number of Alarms and Times: Under Control: 12:40am
Injuries: 6 Type: Carbon monoxide poisoning
Fatalities: 0
Brattleboro Trucks on Scene:2Brattleboro FF’s: 4
Assisting Agencies on Scene: Rescue Inc; Brattleboro Police
Mutual Aid Towns on Scene: 0
Action Taken:
At 12 midnight Engine 2 and Utility 8 responded to 11 Pleasant Street for a Carbon Monoxide (CO) alarm activation.
Upon arrival firefighters were met outside by a tenant who reported the carbon monoxide detector in the basement was going off. Firefighters entered the basement to find the CO detector was sounding, and the gas meter firefighters were carrying with them registered elevated levels of CO. There was also a light haze in the basement, this being caused by a malfunctioning boiler.
The boiler was shut down and firefighters then went to each of the 6 apartments in the building checking CO levels and found elevated readings throughout the building. At this time all 16 tenants were evacuated to the outside and using a medical meter to check the CO levels in their blood stream, it was found that six of the tenants, including one infant, had high levels of CO in their systems. A total of five tenants were transported to Brattleboro Memorial Hospital by three Rescue Inc. ambulances and a sixth tenant went to the hospital by private vehicle. The building was ventilated by the fire department using fans and once all meter readings returned to zero all tenants were allowed to reoccupy their apartments.
There were reports that alarms in this building went off earlier in the afternoon and either the detectors were disconnected or ignored. This incident could have had a very tragic ending if it was not for a functioning CO detector in the basement. The Brattleboro Fire Department urges all residents to consider any alarm to be an emergency until it is deemed to be safe by trained professionals. We also want to remind all citizens that you should have properly installed and working smoke and carbon monoxide detectors on all levels of your home, preferably outside of sleeping areas, they save lives, as shown in this incident.
If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to contact the Brattleboro Fire Department at 254-4831.
Press release contact: Michael Bucossi
Fire Chief
Town of Brattleboro
