When carbon monoxide alarms were activated Thursday morning at
Evergreen Heights, it was not the first time in the hours preceding
the building’s evacuation that an alarm had sounded in the
facility, said Lon Fricano, president of the adult home’s board of
directors.
Although 53 residents and a handful of staff were evacuated from
the building, at 8939 Oakland St., Weedsport, when alarms sounded
around 8:50 a.m. Thursday, Fricano said one alarm sounded the night
before, but no one was evacuated because staff thought the detector
may be broken.
Fricano gave an account of the nights leading up to Thursday’s
evacuation. He said a day or two before, one or two carbon monoxide
detectors in the facility (there are about 12 total) were chirping
- a sound they make when they need batteries replaced.
Fricano said staff replaced all the batteries in all the
detectors and they stopped chirping.
On Wednesday night, the night before the evacuation, one
detector sounded and, since no others were sounding, the night
staff disconnected the detector that was going off and disturbing
the residents.
“They figured there was a malfunction with the unit,” he said.
“No one was reporting any illness or symptoms. … None of the
other detectors
Article source: http://auburnpub.com/news/local/carbon-monoxide-alarm-was-ignored/article_3403d50e-59e9-11e1-89ea-001871e3ce6c.html
