Watertown, NY – Tuesday started early for many residents of Brighton Apartments with their their wakeup call coming from the Watertown Fire Department.
“Firemen came to my door about 7:10, told me I had to leave. So I put on some jeans and left,” said Andrew Nichols, who lives in the building.
A carbon monoxide detector had gone off in an upper floor apartment.
Firefighters brought meters in and sure enough, levels were high.
“Generally, there’s acceptable levels of 35 parts per million. Some of the apartments were above that. Many of the apartments were below that,” said Watertown Fire Chief Dale Herman.
More than 20 residents were evacuated, but the dangerous gas wasn’t coming from any of the apartments.
Instead, it was the former Empsall store on the ground floor where an temporary furnace is being used while the group Neighbors of Watertown renovates the space.
“There was a damper that had malfunctioned on it, not allowing the chimney to open. So it was allowing the gas to come back into the space,” said Reg Schweitzer, deputy director of Neighbors of Watertown.
That gas measured here at 125 parts per million, way above the upper limit of 35.
“If there’s any lesson here, it’s that carbon monoxide detectors do save lives.
“Certainly – they come in handy,” said Schweitzer.
The building was ventilated and residents were allowed back in after about two hours.
Here’s our report from earlier in the day:
A malfunctioning part on a boiler in the former Empsall’s building in Watertown is thought to be the cause of carbon monoxide contamination in the adjacent Brighton Apartments building.
About 20 Brighton residents were evacuated after a resident called 911 shortly after 7 a.m. Tuesday when a carbon monoxide detector went off.
Gary Beasley, who is CEO of building owner Neighbors of Watertown, says contractors put the temporary boiler in to prevent pipes from freezing before Neighbors begins renovating the building, which they purchased last year.
The evacuees were taken to the Neighbors of Watertown offices on Franklin Street. Many were returning to their homes by noon.
City fire Capt. Dale Harmon says carbon monoxide readings were at 125 parts per million when firefighters arrived. He says protocol requires them to put masks on when levels reach 35 part per million.
7 News reporter Rachael Spotts was in the building when it was evacuated. She says “it was a very hectic scene, to say the least.”
“Firefighters were aggressively trying to get people out of the building, banging on doors, going floor to floor, getting everyone out,” she said.
Spotts said firefighters told her one of the bidggest problems they face is that people often don’t want to leave their homes in situations like this.
Firefighters left the scene shortly after 9 a.m. after airing the building out.