Las Vegas, NV – A Zamboni ice preparation machine apparently leaking carbon monoxide caused several people to become sick this morning at Las Vegas Ice Center on the west side of the valley.
A call from the rink was made at 10:07 a.m. Sunday. Clark County Fire Department crews responded with a Las Vegas Fire & Rescue Haz-Mat materials team to the rink at 9295 W. Flamingo.
Seven people were transported to area hospitals after complaints of being light-headed or sick, according to CCFD Battalion Chief Richard Reid.
“They all must have had pretty serious breathing problems or they would not have been transported,” Reid told News 3. “We found the CO levels were elevated so we evacuated the building. We found the malfunctioning piece of equipment to be the Zamboni machine. We took it outside and after ventilation, the CO levels returned to normal and the place is back open for business.
Ron Blackwell said he plays hockey three or four times a week for 90 minutes or so, and after 45 minutes he and other players were feeling light-headed and woozy.
“We all started feeling light-headed,” he said. “Not just one person, but a bunch of us. You’d skate up and you’d feel a little dizzy and woozy. We all started to talk to each other and we realized it wasn’t normal.”
Blackwell said the building is divided into two parts with a partition and glass wall separating the parts. He and fellow hockey players were in the south side of the building and it did not appear that the north side was affected.