Carbon monoxide build up leads to apartment building evacuation in Hamilton

A carbon monoxide (CO) alarm resulted in the evacuation of an entire apartment building early in the morning.

The CO detector blared shortly before 5:30 a.m. on Jan. 15. Hamilton Fire Department crews arrived on the scene shortly afterward and found an elevated level of CO on the premises. More crews soon arrived for back up and the building was evacuated. Hamilton Street Rail (HSR) assisted by providing buses for the tenants to stay in.

All tenants were evacuated from the building and placed on the buses. Hamilton Fire then began to ventilate the building. The apartment’s maintenance company was also informed and began work to find the source of the issue.

The contractor determined one of two air handling units that had failed and caused a buildup of CO. While one unit was stopped, the other was restarted. ” The building was ventilated, and air readings were taken throughout the entire building, unit by unit,” according the an HFD spokesperson.

The building was declared safe and people returned to their home shortly before 9:30 a.m.