Two West Virginia Motels Shut Down For Carbon Monoxide Violations

Two West Virginia motels were evacuated and shut down Wednesday because they posed a threat of carbon monoxide poisoning, according to WSAZ-TV’s website.

http://www.wsaz.com/news/headlines/141774083.html

The American Inn and the Budget Inn in Hurricane, West Va.,  were ordered closed following a routine fire inspection Wednesday morning, according to Hurricane Fire Chief Frank Stover. The two motels are situated on Hurricane Creek Road.

One of Stover’s inspectors discovered potentially dangerous gaps, due to improper gas caps, in some of the pipes in the two motels.

The motels had single-wall pipes going into triple-wall pipes, and “this poses a threat because the pipes aren’t properly sealed and gas could leak out of them,” according to WSAZ.com. There was also a problem with wiring in an attic.

After an inspector found the violations he had the 15 occupants of the motels evacuated and ordered the closed.

Motel employees and guests were tested for carbon monoxide poisoning, but none needed medical attention, WSAZ.com reported.

The Hurricane Fire Department also contacted state officials about the two motels, which Stover told WSAZ.com would remain closed until the violations are addressed.

Stover was quoted as saying that he didn’t want the kind of situation that South Charleston had in January, when one man died and more than a dozen became sick as the result of a carbon monoxide leak in a Holiday Inn Express.