Charlotte, NC – CHARLOTTE, NC (WBTV) –
A Charlotte mom and grandmother is staying in a model apartment after carbon monoxide exposure forced her and her family from their home.
Sheila McLean lives in the Woodfield Gardens community off Milton Road in North Charlotte.
She, her daughter and two grandsons had to move out of the second floor apartment after carbon monoxide began filling their unit Saturday afternoon.
“We dialed 911 and so the firemen came,” she recalled. “He said get out. He said it was carbon monoxide. He said I don’t want you to be exposed.”
But it was already too late for that. Her daughter, Jessica — who is four months pregnant — started complaining of a headache.
“Sure enough when they checked her, she registered carbon monoxide a seven, my grandson Jamante registered a 13 and [my other grandson] Joshua registered a seven,” said McLean.
As firefighters worked to determine the cause of the leak, she said management initially didn’t want to help and told them they would have to pay for a hotel.
“I said, no sir,” she said. “I said, ‘you will not stick me back up in [apt.] F until you get someone here to tear that furnace out because Piedmont Natural Gas had tagged it and said it was unsafe,” she said.
So WBTV took McLean’s concerns straight management.
The property manager told us off camera the leak was coming from the stove and been sealed off and the stove replaced.
He also told WBTV McLean and her family would stay in this model apartment until a contractor came out and made sure it was safe enough to return.
She’s grateful — but wonders why the leak wasn’t discovered before now.
“I’ve been here since July,” she said. “There’s been a leak in this place since then and we never knew.”
As of Tuesday night, McLean is still waiting for the contractor to come out and make sure the leak is fixed so they can move back in.