Hotel’s close call sounds alarm on monitors

Asilent killer seeped into Hotel Emma in downtown San Antonio last month, sickening 15 employees who had to be transported to a local hospital. How did this happen in one of the city’s swankiest hotels? The 146-room hotel at the Pearl has welcomed the likes of Cher and NBA teams in town to play the Spurs.

Hotel Emma, which obtained its building permit in 2012, hadn’t installed carbon monoxide alarms, which are required by the city’s building code. We’re sure if Hotel Emma could turn back time, those alarms would have been installed.

Cher called Hotel Emma at San Antonio’s Historic Pearl District one of the most unique and beautiful hotels, and we would never argue this point about what once was a 19th-century brew house. But what’s more important than aesthetics is safety. It’s why building codes exist.

San Antonio’s building code requirements follow international building and fire codes, which require carbon monoxide alarms in sleeping dwelling units, according to Michael Shannon, the city’s director of the development service department. The code specifically requires the alarms for buildings with fuel-burning appliances or fuelburning fireplaces. Hotel Emma, which has fireplaces in the patio area and lobby, is required to have carbon monoxide alarms. But alarms were not installed.

First responders were called to the hotel, located in the Pearl complex, just before 11 a.m. on Jan. 11 in response to a person complaining of nausea and a headache, according to Express-news reports.

When medics arrived, several other people started complaining of the same symptoms. Shannon and others were called to the scene to investigate the source of the problem.

Shannon told us further investigation revealed that an update to the carbon monoxide alarm code requirements in March 2012 were missed during the permitting process for Hotel Emma later that year. Those same requirements were missed again in 2018.

Shannon explained the requirement was not caught during the plan review.

“That’s something we’ve got to learn from,” he said during a meeting with the Editorial Board. “They should have had them.”

He added that the alarms were then immediately installed by the hotel and

were inspected before people were allowed back into the building.

Hotel Emma did not respond to our requests for comment.

Christopher Monestier, San Antonio deputy fire chief, said the city is now going back and notifying other property owners of the requirement.

This is crucial. The situation at Hotel Emma left us wondering just how many other properties might not have carbon monoxide detectors.

Monestier said the source of Hotel Emma’s carbon monoxide woes wasn’t fully figured out, but it could have been a perfect storm of a smoldering fire, high humidity and low air flow. The problem could not be duplicated.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that every year, at least 430 people die in the United States from accidental carbon monoxide poisoning.

The CDC notes people who are sleeping or who have been drinking can die from carbon monoxide poisoning before ever experiencing symptoms.

Carbon monoxide is different from natural gas — natural gas is a fuel while carbon monoxide is a byproduct of burning fuel. Gas companies add a harmless chemical to give natural gas its distinctive smell, its own warning system. Carbon monoxide alarms will not detect natural gas.

Shannon and Monestier explained that buildings with all electric appliances aren’t required to have carbon monoxide alarms, but they emphasized it’s important to be aware of the dangers of carbon monoxide poisoning.

The CDC confirmed that batterypowered or battery backup carbon monoxide detectors should be in use in any scenario where fossil fuel is burned, such situations involving fuelburning furnaces and appliances, vehicles or generators.

Travel carbon monoxide alarms are available for purchase, with most costing less than $30. But having a personal alarm shouldn’t be a requirement for a quiet night in a swanky hotel — or any hotel or motel, for that matter.

Hotel Emma and the city expeditiously corrected the error and no one was seriously hurt. But this close call should never have happened.

How many other places lack carbon monoxide sensors?