Carbon Monoxide Scare Forces Evacuations At Quincy Shelter
QUINCY (CBS) - More than 100 people were evacuated from a Quincy shelter after a carbon monoxide scare Tuesday night.
Firefighters are investigating high levels of carbon monoxide after a detector went off at Father Bill's shelter on Broad Street.
None of the 120 people who were sheltered there got sick, but responding firefighters measured the CO level at 300ppm, way above the danger level.
The evacuees stayed warm in three MBTA buses during the investigation.
By the time firefighters shut down the building's furnace and water heater, the CO level hit 400ppm in one of the sleeping areas.
"We shut the gas off to the building, the utilities were shut down to the heating units," Quincy Fire Dep. Chief Jack Cadigan said. "Our companies set up the fans and aired out the building and the last reading we took, the company found the reading was back down to zero."
Fire officials say the gas could have been a silent killer were it not for the detectors.
Father Bill's has been a critical service for Quincy's homeless for almost three decades. Staffers are reaching out to the Salvation Army and the Red Cross for help.
