HIALEAH, FLA. (WSVN) - Two people celebrating the Super Bowl were hospitalized for carbon monoxide exposure in Hialeah.
The incident occurred on the second floor of an apartment complex in the area of West 12th Avenue and 35th Street.
According to Hialeah Fire Rescue officials, a charcoal grill caused the carbon monoxide poisoning.
The couple was grilling out on their balcony during the Super Bowl on Sunday night although the apartment complex doesn’t allow it.
They brought the grill inside the apartment when they finished cooking and shortly after began feeling ill.
Fire Rescue responded to the scene and detected high levels of carbon monoxide coming from the the grill.
The two victims were checked out on the scene before being transported to Mercy Hospital to be treated in a hyperbaric chamber.
“Basically, that off gassing carbon monoxide is what is released, that’s a silent killer, and you can’t smell it, you can’t see it, you can’t sense it,” said Hialeah Fire Rescue Lieutenant Paul Garcia, “and basically once you start having symptoms it could almost be too late.”
Neighbors were forced to evacuate their apartments due to small levels of carbon monoxide being detected in other apartments.
“It went through the whole building, you know what I’m saying? It probably went through the whole building because once you get that in the attic it goes through the whole building,” said neighbor Carlos Herold.
As of Monday morning, residents have been given the clear to return back into their apartments.
The two victims’ are expected to recover from the incident.
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