Crime & Safety

UPDATE: Police Confirm Carbon Monoxide At Parkville Group Home

The incident occurred early Monday morning at a special needs group home in Parkville.

UPDATE (2:10 p.m. June 18) The Baltimore County Fire Department has confirmed that carbon monoxide is to blame for the hospitalization of eight people early Monday morning at a group home in Parkville.

The confirmation comes as the fire department received air quality testing results from the Maryland Department of the Environment based on samples taken at 2809 Hillcrest Avenue, according to fire spokeswoman Elise Armacost.

"MDE tests showed extremely low trace amounts of hazardous chemicals. It appears that the problem was carbon monoxide, which Fire personnel detected during their response, using gas meters carried on all fire apparatus," Armacost wrote in an email. 

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"Because these CO levels were unusually high and because a source of CO was not apparent,  the Incident Commander requested additional tests from MDE to explore whether there might be an additional problem," she wrote.

The text of an update posted at 11:36 a.m. June 17 follows.

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Eight people were hospitalized following an "apparent exposure to an unknown hazardous material" early Monday morning in Parkville, police say.

Shortly before 1 a.m. June 17, fire crews responded to a group home at 2809 Hillcrest Avenue in Parkville where they found seven people suffering "various levels of illness," according to Baltimore County police and fire spokeswoman Elise Armacost.

Six people, three staff members and three residents, were transported to Franklin Square hospital, Armacost wrote. Six of the seven patients were later taken to the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore.

Officials at the scene called for additional medical personnel and the hazardous materials unit, Armacost wrote.

Fire and Maryland Department of the Environment officials have so far been unable to determine specifically what was wrong at the home, Armacost wrote.

Earlier, police spokeswoman Louise Rogers-Feher told Patch that while the cause of the illnesses had not yet been determined, early signs pointed to a possible carbon monoxide leak.

Earlier, around 11:44 p.m. June 16, fire crews first responded to the Hillcrest Avenue home for a report of an unconscious person, Armacost wrote. Since only one person was ill at that time, officials were not aware of the potential environmental hazard, according to Armacost.

That person was transported to Franklin Square Medical Center, according to officials.

A staff member who worked at the group home called for medical assistance after returning to her Woodlawn home, according to police. She was taken to Northwest Hospital.

The original text of this article follows

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Seven people had to be taken to area hospitals after police say they were possibly exposed to carbon monoxide early Monday morning.

Two employees and four residents of a special needs group home located at 2809 Hillcrest Ave. in Parkville were taken to the hospital shortly before 1 a.m. Monday, according to police and fire spokeswoman Louise Rogers-Feher.

A third employee was later taken to the hospital from their Woodlawn home after leaving work, Rogers-Feher said.

"It's undetermined what happened at this point, but initially they think it's a C-O problem." Rogers-Feher said. CO is the chemical notation for carbon monoxide, a deadly colorless, odorless and tasteless gas.



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