Norfolk, VA – A Norfolk restaurant has reopened after being shut down because of high levels of carbon monoxide.
It’s something that threatens your health and can possibly threaten your life, Norfolk Fire Department Battalion Chief Julian Williamson said.
Carbon monoxide is a colorless, odorless, poisonous gas, produced when certain fuels are not completely burned. Williamson says on at least two separate occasions the levels of carbon monoxide have been high at the Piccadilly restaurant on North Military Highway.
He says the first alert this year came in March when EMS workers went there for a medical call. Williamson says a carbon monoxide detector on the first aid bag gave an alert that led to the building being evacuated and shut down for a short time.
There was a problem with the ventilation system for one of the appliances. Our fire marshal was notified and the appliances were red tagged. That means you can’t use that equipment until it’s properly repaired by a certified contractor, Williamson said.
He said at the time, the restaurant complied and it was reopened.
But we came back out in July. We go there again on an EMS call. Again our monitor that we carry on our jump bag, it alerts us that hey, we have some elevated CO. We evacuate again. Call 911. We do some investigating and they discover that this time it was a bad water heater, Williamson said.
Williamson said the restaurant was closed the week of the July 14 through the weekend. After working with a contractor to fix the problem, they were allowed to reopen the following week.
Two former Piccadilly employees spoke to 10 On Your Side about what happened.
We had a guest that fall out right through the line, Davelyn Williams said. She also said after a carbon monoxide exposure in March, I started coughing really bad and shaking.
Williams worked as a server just seven months. That’s the same amount of time Rodney Freeman worked there as a prep cook. He said he was there when the restaurant was evacuated in March.
You hear the thing go off and the next thing you know, they are telling you to evacuate the building, he said. Freeman said he spent three days in the hospital because of the exposure.
Some of the symptoms of CO poisoning could be dizziness, nausea, feeling sick, Williamson said.
Williams said she hopes the problems are fixed this time for good for the sake of her friends still working there. I just want to make sure that now because the other times they allowed us back in there we took sick, that this problem is over for the rest of the people that’s still working there that are very scared to speak out because of their job.
10 On Your Side made repeated attempts to contact someone from the restaurant. Tuesday, a manager inside directed us to contact the corporate office in Louisiana. No one there has responded to any of our calls.