CO Scare Forces Evacuation of Austin Hotel
Austin American-Statesman
Feb. 21--Two people were hospitalized on Wednesday afternoon after a pizza oven spewed carbon monoxide through several floors of the Fairmont Hotel in downtown Austin.
Austin firefighters were called out to the hotel at 3:26 p.m. First responders found high levels of the colorless, odorless gas through the first seven floors of the building, and evacuated everyone from those floors.
Two people were taken to an area hospital with injuries that were not expected to be life-threatening, Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services Capt. Darren Noak said.
According to the Austin Fire Department, crews traced the gas to a malfunctioning pizza oven and shut it down, but high levels of carbon monoxide remain in the building.
Division Chief Thayer Smith said firefighters are actively trying to ventilate the building.
