Mono County, CA – The California Highway Patrol says carbon monoxide may have sickened more than a dozen passengers aboard a Reno-bound commercial bus.
CHP says the Amador Stage Lines bus was en route from Long Beach, California with roughly 50-60 passengers when some of them started to feel ill around 9:15pm Sunday near Bridgeport. CHP says the odorless, colorless gas entered the passenger portion of the bus.
All the passengers were removed from the bus and taken to the Veterans Memorial Hall.
Several agencies responded to the situation, including CHP, Mono County Paramedics, Mono County Sheriff’s Office and the Bridgeport Fire Department.
CHP says eight passengers were transported by ambulance to Mammoth Hospital in Mammoth Lakes, California while five passengers went to the Carson Valley Medical Center in Gardnerville.
All affected passengers have since been released from area hospitals.
“The passengers of this bus were fortunate,” said Lieutenant Cohan…”Fortunate the bus driver made a sound, professional safety decision to stop in Bridgeport and not continue north through the Walker River Canyon. All indications are conditions inside the bus would have continued to worsen, and given that carbon monoxide is an odorless, colorless gas, this could have ended tragically.”
CHP officers with specific training and experience related to the inspection of commercial vehicles will conduct a detailed inspection of the bus in an attempt to determine the cause of this incident.
A second Amador Stage Lines bus responded to the scene and transported the passengers to their destinations.