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Nine People Injured– One Critically– Following Carbon Monoxide Leak in East Elmhurst

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Feb. 21, 2021 By Christina Santucci

A carbon monoxide leak sickened nine people — including a 3-year-old child — in East Elmhurst early Saturday, according to the FDNY and published reports.

Five people were taken to a local hospital, including one person in critical condition, and four people were treated at the scene, the FDNY said in a statement.

One of the hospitalized victims was a 3-year-old boy, the NY Daily News reported.

“He’s doing all right right now,” the child’s father, Jay Rodriguez, told the News Saturday.

Additional information about the other victims was not immediately available. Firefighters said they responded to a report of a gas leak just before midnight Friday night and found high levels of carbon monoxide at a three-family home on 81st Street near 31st Avenue — as well as neighboring houses.

There were no working carbon monoxide detectors in any of the homes, but someone called 911 after smelling a strong gas odor, the FDNY said.

More than 20 people were quickly evacuated into the cold night, and firefighters vented the homes and notified the utilities companies.

Residents were later let back into their homes by 2:30 a.m. Saturday, the News reported, and the incident was marked as under control just after 4 a.m.

31-09 81st Street, where the leak was reported (google)

 

email the author: news@queenspost.com

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Sara Ross

Every single time there is a fire, you never hear anybody say that they heard the smoke alarm go off. It’s a NYC rule that all buildings have smoke/carbon monoxide detectors. So many tragedies could be prevented.

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