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VINEYARD — Six people were injured, two of them critically, after a carbon monoxide leak in a Utah County townhome early Wednesday, according to the Utah County Sheriff's Office.
The source of the leak was a car, officials said.
"The car was in the garage," said Sgt. Spencer Cannon with the Utah County Sheriff's Office. "We believe it was running, or had been running at least, when the first deputy got there."
Sgt. Austin Edwards said emergency personnel arrived at the home in Vineyard near 300 North and 750 East at about 1 a.m. Ten people were inside. Six were taken to a local hospital, two of them in critical condition.
Cannon said a first responder smelled heavy exhaust fumes when arriving at the scene.
The two people most affected by the carbon monoxide were inside the vehicle. Evidence at the scene revealed the leak to have been the result of an accident rather than intentional.
"The garages in these apartments ... are typically pretty small. It wouldn't take long for a running car to completely fill it up," Cannon said.
Carbon monoxide fumes reportedly leaked from the garage to inside the home, sickening four residents who are now expected to be OK.
Carbon monoxide levels were tested in adjacent townhomes and one showed high levels. Emergency crews broke in through a window to ensure no one inside the adjacent home was hurt. Luckily, nobody was home.
"It's really important that people have working carbon monoxide alarms in their residences. It's, you know, odorless, tasteless — it's one of those things like you said, you can't see," Edwards said. "Those alarms can be a lifesaver, literally."
Edwards said a person exposed to CO can lose consciousness quickly, making it that much more important to have alarms. The alarms in this case did go off.
Edwards recommends changing the batteries in CO alarms every six months.
Contributing: Darby Sparks
