Posted on Thu, Feb 10, 2011 : 3:55 p.m.
Ann Arbor City Hall closed because of high carbon monoxide levels
By Kyle Feldscher
Larcom City Hall in Ann Arbor closed today about 3 p.m. due to a carbon monoxide leak, but an hour later firefighters declared the building safe.
Ann Arbor fire Battalion Chief Jim Baldwin said fire crews detected moderate to low levels of carbon monoxide in the building. About 4 p.m., Baldwin said firefighters ventilated the building and it was safe to occupy, but by then most workers had already gone home for the day.
The adjacent Ann Arbor Justice Center remained open during the evacuation, according to a news alert sent by the city of Ann Arbor.
Kyle Feldscher covers K-12 education for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at kylefeldscher@annarbor.com.
Comments
Dog Guy
Fri, Feb 11, 2011 : 7:06 p.m.
Buildings are for people; architecture is for pigeons. Just where is the burial chamber for the city pharaohs who commanded their subjects to build this monument to them? I am certain that the former Ann Arbor News Building will serve its new owners well. It would have served the city well if we had public servants rather than pharaohs. Have your out-of-town visitors mentioned driving past the pharaohs' erection? My visitors usually phrase their opinions as questions. Come warm weather, I shall peel the "Ann Arbor Native" sticker from my minivan. It is architecture--not a building.
GuessWhat
Fri, Feb 11, 2011 : 2:42 p.m.
Betty...I wonder if you'd still post your "funny" gas comment had their been an explosion. This isn't a laughing matter. High levels of carbon monoxide are very dangerous over a period of time. If you would stop and think about comments like that and if they were directed to you or your family after an incident maybe you would have not posted it.
Blue Eyes
Fri, Feb 11, 2011 : 1:38 p.m.
Carbon monoxide, toilets that bearly flush, water in the bathroom sinks that is only cold and often is hardly more than a trickle, repeated bouts of no heat, air conditioning, or ventilation and few windows that open even if you did want to bring in "fresh" air laden with construction equipment exhaust; terrible noise throughout the days, gas leak on the 7th floor, radon in the basement, asbestos abatement of the bathrooms that will close some of the few bathrooms, a totally filthy building - no problems, they're only those overpaid public employees anyway! Amazing what's ok for City Hall employees that would never be allowed or even contemplated in the private sector.....and AA.com seems to have a hands-off approach in reporting anything more than the bare minimum.
rebel.yell
Fri, Feb 11, 2011 : 2:56 p.m.
@Blue Eyes: I would submit that asbestos abatement (process of removing asbestos), recent radon removal system installation in the basement, upgrades the the AC and heating systems and the installation of new windows on the lower floors (at least I saw them as I walked by yesterday) demonstrate the city is taking steps to improve the interior health of the building. As for construction exhaust...not sure how that contributes to a filthy building. It's a temporary thing as construction isn't going to go on forever. You'll always have exhaust laden air given the proximity to a heavily-travelled MDOT roadway (Huron Street). As far as the noise and gas leak, I can't comment first hand - I would assume the noise is construction related and, again, temporary. A gas leak on the unoccpied 7th floor seems to be the only gripe that you have that treads water.
Betty
Fri, Feb 11, 2011 : 1:51 a.m.
The "blowin' gas" from city hall references are too easy.
Edward Vielmetti
Thu, Feb 10, 2011 : 9:24 p.m.
When this happened last, in April 2010, a poorly tuned skid-steer loader from a subcontractor was to blame. <a href="http://www.annarbor.com/vielmetti/carbon-monoxide-what-it-is-where-it-comes-from-and-how-to-protect-yourself-from-it/">http://www.annarbor.com/vielmetti/carbon-monoxide-what-it-is-where-it-comes-from-and-how-to-protect-yourself-from-it/</a> Carbon monoxide in pop culture on the UK program "Eastenders": <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/eastenders/2011/02/photo-spoilers-fueds-and-fumes.shtml" rel='nofollow'>http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/eastenders/2011/02/photo-spoilers-fueds-and-fumes.shtml</a> "Heather faces toxic terror when her carbon monoxide starts escaping from her broken boiler. Will she survive the deadly fumes?"