14 people treated for carbon monoxide poisoning in Bastrop

Fourteen evacuees from Houston have been treated for carbon monoxide poisoning after being exposed to the gas Saturday at the Bastrop County house where they’ve been staying.

The group included six children and eight adults who fled Houston because of Hurricane Harvey.

Josh Gill, assistant chief of Bastrop County Emergency Services District No. 2, said he was called to a residence in the 100 block of Woodland Court in Bastrop at 8:51 p.m. Saturday after receiving reports that some people were unconscious in the house.

When firefighters arrived, they found four people unconscious and others in various states of confusion and disorientation, Gill said.

Officials determined that the vent to a gas hot-water heater in the house was not working properly, releasing carbon monoxide into the house.

The six children were taken to Dell Children’s Medical Center in Austin, and the eight adults went to two other hospitals, Gill said. All are expected to make a full recovery, officials said.

“It worked out the best it could have worked out,” Gill said of the timing of the emergency response. “It wasn’t very much longer they would have died.”

The carbon monoxide readings in the house were 1,660 parts per million, Gill said, which is exceptionally high. People may feel symptoms of exposure to just 70 parts per million, and exposure to 800 parts per million can lead to unconsciousness and death within a couple of hours.

Gill said a dog in the house was in good condition and returned to the property after the gas was cleared out.

Two emergency responders also had to be treated for carbon monoxide exposure due to elevated levels in their blood, Gill said.

They are expected to be OK, he said.