Jersey City, NJ – Six Jersey City residents were treated for carbon monoxide exposure today, including one who was taken to the Jersey City Medical Center, and the owner of the building said it appears that a tenant disabled a smoke/carbon monoxide alarm, officials said.
Emergency medical technicians and firefighters responded to the multi-family residence on West Side Avenue near Sip Avenue at 11:50 a.m. and upon entering the building with firefighters their carbon monoxide sensors sounded, JCMC Director of EMS Robert Luckritz said. EMTs and firefighters evacuated the building, taking one woman out on a stretcher, Luckritz said.
The fireman knocked on me door and told me to get out, said a resident. He said his neighbor in the building on the second floor was unconscious when they carried her out on a stretcher, but she was awake when they put her in the ambulance.
The others exposed to carbon monoxide were treated with oxygen at the scene, Luckritz said, adding that the call for medical assistance was made by a resident of the building. Prolonged exposure to carbon monoxide can be fatal.
The owner of the building told The Jersey Journal that a resident disabled a smoke/carbon monoxide detector so it would not be triggered by cooking.
A Jersey City fire prevention inspector responded to the building to determine if there we any violations, but the outcome of the inspection is not yet available.