9, including 10-year-old girl, sickened in Yonkers carbon monoxide incident
YONKERS, New York (WABC) -- Nine people from a Yonkers apartment building were hospitalized overnight Friday after complaining of lightheadedness, dizziness and vomiting, all symptoms of possible carbon monoxide poisoning.
The victims, from the home at 104 Oak Street, were all conscious when dealing with EMT personnel.
They were taken to Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx.
Emergency personnel and Con Edison crews determined that a clogged chimney led to the buildup of fumes.
Most of the victims have been released, but residents of a third floor apartment -- including a 10-year-old girl -- are still at Jacobi for observation.
Authorities say their lives were likely saved by a carbon monoxide detector.
"That tells us there was a problem," one resident said. "My wife called in the emergency. But everybody's OK."
Vanessa Jones lives across the street and saw firefighters bringing sickened residents out of the building around 2:30 a.m.
"They were carrying equipment, detectors, and they kept beeping, beeping, beeping off the charts," she said. "A lady sitting on the stairs, so you know she wasn't feeling well. And you had a young girl standing next to the building, and she was kind of wobbling."
Yonkers fire officials say carbon monoxide emergencies occur more frequently during the extreme cold, as residents close and seal windows and furnaces operate for longer stretches.
"It's imperative that people know they need to have carbon monoxide detectors within 15 feet of all areas used for sleeping," Yonkers Fire Captain Christopher Desantis said.
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