PROVO — Eight people were taken to hospitals with carbon monoxide poisoning after a boiler problem sent a buildup of gas into a meetinghouse of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Sunday.
At 11:06 a.m., firefighters were called to the meetinghouse at 650 E. Stadium Ave. in Provo on a medical call. But while crews were on their way, they learned multiple people were sick and the church had “quite a bit” of carbon monoxide built up, said Provo fire spokeswoman Jeanie Atherton.
The building was evacuated. Crews were able to pinpoint the carbon monoxide to a problem with a boiler in the building, Atherton said.
One person was taken by ambulance to a hospital, while several others went there in personal vehicles. Eight were later taken to Intermountain Medical Center in Murray for hyperbaric treatment.
Hyperbaric treatment is a therapy in which people with carbon monoxide poisoning are put into a chamber or tube pumped full of pure oxygen, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine.
Provo firefighters in a statement reminded people to check their carbon monoxide detectors to make sure they’re working, and to purchase them if they don’t already have one. Small amounts of carbon monoxide can be deadly, firefighters said.