Three sickened after carbon monoxide leak at Mt. Vernon hotel

Three people became ill after a carbon monoxide leak at a Mount Vernon hotel late Thursday.

Firefighters and two ambulances responded around 11:20 p.m. to Sleep Inn, 310 Virgil Ave. Mount Vernon Fire Chief Dan Gaines said one of the three people who had nausea and a headache was transported to a Cedar Rapids hospital, but was expected to be OK.

Medics treated two other people at the hotel, he said.

“The exhaust pipe for the water boilers had come loose and dumped carbon monoxide into the building,” Gaines said.

Jennifer Miller, general manager of the hotel, said about 25 hotel guestswere evacuated immediately after Alliant Energy was called. Some waited outside and some sat in vehicles until a little after 1 a.m., she said.

In an interview around mid-day Friday, Miller said the person who was taken to the hospital had been released and was doing fine. She declined to say whether it was a guest or an employee.

Miller said maintenance fixed the leak, but she said they are unsure what caused the problem. She said she couldn't remember any other carbon monoxide leaks at the hotel.

“That's what you have alarms for,” Miller said. “They tell you what you need to know, and then we follow procedure.”

Firefighters shut down the boiler and provided ventilation to the area before the guests were allowed back inside. Gaines said it serves as good reminder for people to be aware of the dangers of carbon monoxide, a colorless and odorless gas.

“It's getting into that time of the season, where people have their houses closed up, and they might need to have those furnaces checked or serviced,” Gaines said.