Seven people, two of them in critical condition, were being treated Wednesday night for carbon monoxide poisoning suffered at a small apartment building in Seattle, authorities said.
Seattle fire officials said at least five of the people — including the first Seattle police officer to respond to the scene — were being treated at Virginia Mason Medical Center in a hyperbaric chamber, which floods the body with oxygen.
Two 79-year-old victims were critically poisoned, fire officials said. The building, on 35th Avenue Northeast in the Lake City neighborhood, was evacuated, ventilated and reopened Wednesday night, seattlepi.com reported.
Police said two residents returning home to the building late Wednesday afternoon followed a strong smell of exhaust to one of the building's units. When they got no response, they called 911, and the two elderly victims were found inside.
A fire official told The Associated Press that a car had been left running in the garage, but Seattle police said Wednesday night that they were still investigating the source of the poisonous gas.
