Poor ventilation while operating power washing units at a Delta farm led to 42 people being sent to Lower Mainland hospitals on Saturday night, according to Delta Fire Battalion Chief Neil Shuster.
Delta Fire, a hazardous material team and close to a dozen ambulances all responded at 2:57 p.m. to what was initially reported as exposure to a cleaning product, Shuster said.
Upon arriving at Windset Farms, crews discovered that workers at the farm had been exposed to high levels of carbon monoxide.
鈥淚 believe that they were working inside the building with possible powerwashing units that were gas powered,鈥� said Shuster.
鈥淚t鈥檚 the carbon monoxide that鈥檚 dispelled from [the] gas engine.鈥�
Ambulances 42 people to hospital at 2:57 p.m. Saturday, a B.C. Emergency Health Services spokesperson confirmed.
Of those, 10 had been reported as in serious condition and 32 in stable condition.
All 42 have since been released, Shuster said.
WorkSafe BC spokesperson Trish Knight Chernecki said that 鈥渃arbon monoxide was confirmed in six workers鈥� and that an investigation by WorkSafeBC is underway.
Carbon monoxide levels in the greenhouse have since returned to normal, Chernecki said.
Windset Farms has not yet returned a request for comment.
Update: major incident in Delta was at a farm where there was exposure to carbon monoxide.
鈥� EmergHealthServices (@BC_EHS) December 10, 2017
13 ambulances responded to a major incident in Delta. More than 40 patients have been transported to hospital - 32 in stable condition, 10 in serious to critical condition.
Delta South MLA Ian Paton and Kamloops South Thompson MLA Todd Stone sent their condolences to the victims.
My thoughts and prayers are with the 42 workers in hospital, including 10 in serious-to-critical condition, suffering from carbon monoxide exposure at Windset Farms in #Delta today. @IanPatonDelta @MayorofDelta
鈥� Todd Stone (@toddstonebc) December 10, 2017
More to come.
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