10 people sickened by carbon monoxide

Residents were burning wood inside home to keep warm

Ten people were almost killed by carbon monoxide gas when they cooked over burning wood in a tire rim inside a Lauderdale Lakes apartment, investigators said Thursday.

“It appears that since the weather was cold last night, folks here were burning some wood inside the apartment without proper ventilation,” Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue Battalion Chief Michael Kane said.

Seven children and three adults became sick. They were vomiting and complaining of headaches.

“All the patients were conscious and some were very lethargic, which is one of the indications of carbon monoxide poisoning,” Kane said.

They were in serious condition when taken to Plantation General Hospital, and Kane called them “lucky, because they could have easily died.”

It’s unclear whether everyone in the apartment is related. Their names and ages were not immediately available.

Crews from Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue arrived about 8 a.m. to the Canterbury Palms apartments at 2775 NW 35th Ave.

Broward Sheriff ’s Fire Rescue hazardous materials team ventilated the apartment and checked adjacent units for presence of the gas, which is odorless, colorless and can be lethal.

Kane said the carbon monoxide was limited to one apartment in the building, which is south of West Oakland Park Boulevard and east of State Road 7.

He discouraged people from burning anything inside their homes.

“If you don’t have a properly constructed chimney, you shouldn’t be burning wood or other materials inside your home,” Kane said.

The state fire marshal is investigating. It is unclear whether the apartment had a carbon monoxide detector.

ADAM SACASA/STAFF A fire inside of a Canterbury Palms Apartment in Lauderdale Lakes sent 10 people to a hospital with carbon monoxide poisoning on Thursday.