Laundromat Carbon Monoxide Leak Hospitalizes Three in Yonkers

A New York City laundromat was evacuated earlier this week, after a carbon monoxide leak that sent at least two adults and one child to the hospital due to side effects of exposure to high levels of the toxic gas. 

Emergency first responders were called to the 24-hour Laundromat at 550 S. Broadway in Yonkers, New York around 9:30 pm on Tuesday, February 2, after carbon monoxide was detected in the facility.

Initial reports indicate that at least a dozen customers and one child were exposed to carbon monoxide gas at the laundromat, which is a leading cause of fatal poisonings in the United States and can result in long-term brain damage even for those who survive exposure.

According to the Yonkers Fire Department Battalion Chief, Brian Travers, upon his team’s arrival, a woman had fainted, and others reported feeling light-headed and suffering from headaches associated with symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning.

As the first responders tended to the woman who fainted, fire personnel recorded very high readings of carbon monoxide within the laundromat, which led to an evacuation of the entire building. At least two women and one child were reportedly taken immediately to a nearby hospital for treatment.

It is unclear whether the laundromat had any carbon monoxide detectors that may have helped patrons detect high levels of the gas before it caused an injury.

Severe injuries caused by carbon monoxide exposures is often avoidable with the use of a CO detector or alarm, which can identify the gas at extremely low levels, and sound an alarm to alert occupants of a building to evacuate to an outside area and call emergency responders.

Carbon monoxide has no smell, color or other irritating factor to allow someone to detect it is present until it has already begun to impact their brain and cause feelings of lightheadedness, dizziness or other flu-like symptoms. In the absence of detectors or alarms, individuals may suffer long-lasting brain damage from carbon monoxide that accumulates in a confined area.

In late 2014, New York’s Governor Andrew Cuomo signed into law new legislation that requires every restaurant and commercial building in the state to have installed properly working carbon monoxide detectors by June 2015.

The legislation was passed after a tragic carbon monoxide leak in 2014 at a Legal Sea Foods Restaurant that was caused by a faulty water heater flue pipe. The CO leak stemmed from the basement of the restaurant, and the gas built up to such high levels that it killed the manager and sickened at least 30 others inside of the building.

Carbon monoxide is extremely harmful to the human body when breathed because the gas displaces oxygen in the blood and deprives the brain, heart, and vital organs of oxygen, similar to suffocation. High volumes of CO exposure can overcome an adult in just minutes without any warning, often leading to loss of consciousness and suffocation.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about 5,200 carbon monoxide exposures occur each year resulting in an estimated 430 fatalities annually.

The initial side effects of carbon monoxide exposure may include feelings of nausea, headaches, dizziness, drowsiness, and shortness of breath, whereas prolonged exposure may result in mental confusion, vomiting, loss of muscle coordination or control, loss of consciousness, and ultimately death. It is common for individuals to mistake the initial symptoms of CO exposure for the flu, often times prolonging treatment and causing increased adverse health effects.