MILLCREEK, Utah — Hundreds of residents at a Millcreek apartment build were evacuated following a carbon monoxide incident on Monday.
Unified Fire crews responded to the Moda Glenwood Apartments near 3900 South and Main Street and immediately registered carbon monoxide readings throughout the building.
"[Hazmat teams] were getting positive readings, far above healthy levels. To the point, we were working on our masks on the inside,' said Unified Fire Capt. Matthew McFarland.
Unified Fire later said the carbon monoxide alert stemmed from vehicles left running inside a parking garage where an open stairwell was located. People were allowed to return home later in the evening after conditions were safe.
Dawn Alonso and her son were among the first evacuees.
“I was just drinking my coffee, my son was asleep, and then the alarm went off, saying there was an emergency. So we all just had to file outside," she said.
Alonso had good reason for evacuating immediately and not taking any chances.
“I have a friend that passed away about a month and a half ago from CO, from the carbon monoxide, in a different building," she explained. "You know, it’s no joke? It’s no joke!”
Capt. McFarland said everyone inside was guided outside, quickly and safely.
“So that’s kind of scary, you know?
That’s your house so it sounds very dangerous but it seems like the firefighters are doing a great job keeping everybody safe and clearing the building," resident Larissa Momm said
No injuries were reported during the evacuation process.
With everyone safe and accounted for, McFarland said it was also a timely reminder for everyone about the dangers of carbon monoxide and the need to have alarms.
“It’s really important people remember to have CO monitors at home in conjunction with your smoke detectors," he said. "And make sure you are changing those batteries twice a year when you change your clocks.”
McFarland added that it’s a great time to get a carbon monoxide detector if you don’t have one and if you do have one, change batteries.