Kearney, NE – A portion of a Kearney apartment complex was evacuated Tuesday night after high levels of carbon monoxide were detected.
At 8:19 p.m., members of the Kearney Volunteer Fire Department were called to Northwest Crossing apartments at 1709 W. 38th St. after reports of a possible gas leak in one of the apartment buildings.
Jim Tacha, an assistant fire chief, said carbon monoxide detectors in a couple of the apartments in one building were sounding. Several residents in the building were evacuated for about an hour while firefighters found the problem and ventilated the area.
It’s nice to know they’re working, Tacha said of the detectors.
A faulty furnace in one of the apartments was to blame for the gas leak, Tacha said. The apartment building has 12 apartments, said Kevin Fraber of NP Realty of Kearney, which manages the complex.
NP Realty has carbon monoxide detectors installed in all their apartments in the complex.
Often called the silent killer, carbon monoxide is an invisible, odorless, colorless gas created when fuels (such as gasoline, wood, coal, natural gas, propane, oil and methane) burn incompletely. In the home, heating and cooking equipment that burn fuel can be sources of carbon monoxide.