2 workers found unconscious - overcome by carbon monoxide and suffered chemical burns - inside Fresh Catch Seafood Market on RT 22 in North Plainfield at 5pm. Victims are in critical condition. Market is under renovation. 4 businesses in building evacuated. Market will be closed tomorrow; other businesses cleared to reopen.
Saturday, August 18, 2018
NORTH PLAINFIELD, New Jersey (WABC) --
Two people were found unconscious due to carbon monoxide poisoning at a seafood market in New Jersey.
The victims were discovered by two workers late Saturday afternoon at the Fresh Catch Seafood Market in North Plainfield late Saturday afternoon. The market is currently under renovation.
Officials say the victims were burned by some type of chemical.
It happened on Route 22 around 5 p.m. Saturday where there are four businesses - all of which were open and had to be evacuated. Dozens of first responders rushed to the scene.
"We unfortunately had a low amount of manpower due to other calls in town. So arriving here with two crucial patients trying to separate them, trying to get them the help that they needed, that was our biggest concern as well as evacuating the rest of the structure, making sure nobody else felt ill," said Lieutenant Tom McDonald of the North Plainfield Fire Department.
The other businesses in the strip mall have been cleared to re-open for business on Sunday. The seafood market will remain closed.
The cause of the carbon monoxide leak is still under investigation.
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2 in critical condition from carbon monoxide poisoning
August 18, 2018
By Matt Gray
mgray@njadvancemedia.com
For NJ.com
Two patients are in critical condition after they were overcome by carbon monoxide inside a North Plainfield business on Saturday evening.
North Plainfield Fire Department personnel responded to the Fresh Catch Seafood Market on Route 22 just after 5 p.m. and found a man and a woman unresponsive and suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning, according to fire Capt. James DiPaolo.
One of them was suffering from chemical burns, he added.
The business was closed for renovations and cleaning at the time, DiPaolo said, but it wasn't clear if the two victims, who have not been identified, were hired for renovations or were affiliated with the seafood market.
Officials also could not say what the pair were doing when they were overcome.
Carbon monoxide in the building was measured at 1,500 to 2,000 parts per million, which is a potentially fatal level, DiPaolo said.
Fire officials didn't know which hospital was treating the patients.
The cause of the incident remains under investigation.