Cleveland, OH – CLEVELAND, Ohio — A woman and her two young children were released from a hospital Thursday after being exposed to high levels of carbon monoxide Wednesday night in their West Side apartment.
A total of five people, including three children, were hospitalized at MetroHealth Medical Center after firefighters received a call for a 5-year-old boy experiencing seizure-like symptoms about 8 p.m. at West 88th Street and Detroit Avenue, Cleveland fire department spokesman Larry Gray said.
Firefighters met a distraught 25-year-old woman outside whose 6-year-old daughter and 5-year-old son were both unconscious inside. The children were taken outside and paramedics and fresh air brought them back to consciousness, Gray said.
A fire official walked through the apartment with a meter and picked up carbon monoxide levels of 200 parts-per-million in the upstairs and 500 parts-per-million in the basement, Gray said. The normal level for carbon monoxide is about 10 parts-per-million.
The mother and her children were taken to MetroHealth Medical Center for treatment. They were released late Thursday morning, Gray said.
Firefighters also checked the neighboring apartments, and found high levels of carbon monoxide in those units, as well. A 35-year-old woman and her 9-year-old daughter next door were hospitalized at MetroHealth Medical Center, and a man on the other side of the apartment also tested for high levels, but refused medical attention, Gray said.
The source of the leak was a faulty boiler. Dominion Gas has shut that unit’s gas off, and the Red Cross has provided assistance to the family.
The woman in the apartment unit told firefighters that her carbon monoxide detector had sounded, but Gray said he was not able to independently verify that.
Gray urged residents to have a certified technician inspect their boilers, and not solely rely on a detector to alert them of a leak.
The building, formerly known as Neal Terrace, is owned by BNT Apartments, LLC. The company and its proprietor, Harvey Oppmann, are currently being sued by the city and Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District. City attorneys allege the company has $465,000 in unpaid water and sewer bills at properties, including more than $131,000 in unpaid bills at Neal Terrace.
No one at the company was available for comment Thursday afternoon, according to a secretary.