Alarms at The Patterson Apartments went off in the early afternoon on Sunday after detections of carbon monoxide in the building. Residents were evacuated and the Eugene-Springfield Fire Department is going through the building to check for residents who did not evacuate.
Residents stood in the outside The Patterson apartments, located at E. 13th Ave. and Patterson St after the fire alarm went off.
Eugene-Springfield Fire Department responded to a carbon monoxide detection at The Patterson apartments on E. 13th Ave and Patterson on Jan. 28, 2018. (Shawn Medow/Emerald)
Resident Noah Andrews said that an hour before the evacuation, the parking garage was dusty and “it smelled like somebody had been leaf blowing.”
Eugene-Springfield Fire Department Battalion Chief Ben Meigs said that they responded to reports of a natural gas leak and that they were conducting extensive air monitoring. Meigs said it is believed that leaf blowers that give off carbon monoxide fumes used in the building’s underground garage are what caused the alarms to go off after the fumes rose to dangerous levels.
Meigs said the department pulled the fire alarm and would go through the building systematically one floor at a time to check for residents. He said that it can take between five and 10 minutes to go through each floor because they only had one key.
Carbon monoxide is odorless and tasteless, according to Meigs, and can be a problem because one would “never know that you’re breathing it.”
Two engines, two trucks, two EMS trucks and one ambulance were on the scene. Meigs said that the response is standard for a high rise alarm.
The Fire Department set up fans at the doors and stairwells to circulate the air in the building.
