Weymouth, MA – A gas leak at a South Shore Hospital owned building at 780 Main St. forced the evacuation of 25 employees at 7 a.m. Thursday, according to Deputy Fire Chief John Haslan.
We believe it was snow related, Haslan said. It sent a natural gas odor into the building. They (staff) evacuated the building and there was a strong odor of natural gas on the first and second floor. We did not enter the building. We waited for National Grid to arrive and we shut off the gas to the building.
He said the problem appears to have been caused by snow covering a vent to a fuel operated appliance and National Grid entered the building to take air readings before determining it was safe to reenter.
Hospital spokesperson Sarah Darcy said no employees were injured during the incident and the building was declared safe for use by National Grid 90 minutes later.
Haslan said firefighters have responded to a spat of gas odor calls from property owners during the past week.
We had a big gas leak on Saturday at a home on Moore Road that was snow related, he said. The gas meters were covered with snow. When that happens the gas builds up and goes into the house.
Haslan firefighters in several instances during the past week have responded to complaints from homeowners about gas odors in homes or when a carbon monoxide detector has activated.
Most of the time what happens is when people call in a carbon monoxide incident they will say their alarm is going off, he said.
We will ask them if they are feeling ill and if they say they do, we will send an emergency medical services unit and we will go into the building to take air readings.”
Haslan said carbon monoxide is an odorless gas that can be fatal to people who inhale excess amounts of it.
State law requires all homes and public buildings to have carbon monoxide detectors.
According to the National Fire Protection Association, symptoms of inhaling carbon monoxide can be confused with flu symptoms, food poisoning and other illnesses. Some symptoms include shortness of breath, nausea, dizziness, light-headedness or headaches. High levels of CO can be fatal, causing death within minutes.
Haslan said a carbon monoxide detector in a home would activate when the gas level reaches 35 parts-per-million.
A person who is breathing carbon monoxide laced air at 50 parts-per-million won’t experience negative effects with eight hours of exposure, according to the National Fire Prevention Association.
The NFPA states people will develop a mild headache after two to three hours of carbon monoxide poisoning that has a meter reading of 200 parts-per million. Nausea will effect a person if the carbon monoxide level increases to 400 parts-per-million after 1-2 hours exposure.