Pa. Medic, Firefighters, Police Officers Sickened by Mystery Fumes
Oct. 28--Allegheny County officials don't know what sickened 10 people, nine of them emergency responders, in a Bellevue apartment Thursday morning, but they don't believe anything too hazardous was involved.
The emergency responders were inside the three-unit apartment building in the 300 block of Lincoln Avenue around 9:30 a.m. for an elderly woman's medical alert call when they started having difficulty breathing, said Alvin Henderson, Jr., acting chief of emergency services for the county.
"It could be a multitude of issues: It's an old home, closed up tight -- the home itself could have had some kind of cleaning agent or fumes," Henderson said.
Six firefighters, two police officers, a medic and the 97-year-old woman were transported to Allegheny General Hospital for treatment. Doctors released all of them by afternoon except one responder, who they were observing because of a pre-existing medical condition, Henderson said.
Hazmat crews searched the building and took samples, but a mobile forensics lab found nothing dangerous.
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