KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Firefighters and police officers helped evacuate a nursing home with dozens of patients Monday morning in Tonganoxie, Kansas, after detecting a carbon monoxide leak in the facility.
The Tonganoxie Fire Department said it received a call around 4 a.m. to the Legend Healthcare nursing home to assist in evacuating the building due to the leak.
Staff from the nursing home transferred 68 patients to the nearby Sacred Heart Church, the Tonganoxie Fire Department said.
It wasn’t immediately clear if any patients experienced CO poisoning, but staff said no patients suffered serious injuries during the evacuation.
Tom Mountain said he came to Legend to visit a friend Monday morning only to find it empty. He found his friend at the church and said he was impressed with how staff handled the situation.
"It’s just kinda chaotic in there, not bad," he said. "People are everywhere; in a room here and a room there. But they all seem to be getting taken care of. That’s the main thing."
The Senior Vice President of Operations, Vince McGowen said the water heater was replaced at the facility last week. McGowen said overnight he received a call that the CO levels had gone up. The nursing home tried venting the hallways before having to evacuate the building.
“Generally what we like to do is shelter in place if we can, see if we can remedy the problem without having to transport, so that’s what we were attempting to do early in the morning,” said McGowen.
McGowen said the frigid temperatures were the reason for the evacuation debate. Everyone involved said the process went smoothly and the leak was fixed much quicker than expected.
