Ann Arbor city hall closed today because of high carbon monoxide levels
Ann Arbor city hall is closed for the day because of high levels of carbon monoxide in the building, Ann Arbor police spokeswoman Lt. Renee Bush said.
About 15 people were evacuated from the building at 7:45 a.m., Bush said. No one was injured or sickened, Bush said.
City hall is closed again today.
Steve Pepple | AnnArbor.com
The closure of city hall comes after the building was evacuated at about 1:30 p.m. Wednesday because of high levels of carbon monoxide.
City hall is expected to reopen Friday, officials said. On Wednesday afternoon, an alarm on the first floor activated, indicating high levels of carbon monoxide, a city news release said. Elevated, hazardous readings were found on all floors, prompting the closure of the building for the day, the release said.
A preliminary investigation showed the carbon monoxide was generated by an excavator working in a depression between city hall and the new police-courts building, according to the release.Â
Strong winds and uncapped wiring access tubes installed low in the basement wall allowed exhaust from the machine to be sucked into the building, through the stairwells and elevator shafts, and into other parts of city hall, the release said.
Comments
jokermtb
Thu, Apr 15, 2010 : 1:12 p.m.
Suspiciously, there were a few empty cans of Zyklon-B in the parking lot....
katie
Thu, Apr 15, 2010 : 11:11 a.m.
This kind of thing is often a problem. Where I work, there is a loading dock. Trucks often keep their engines idling, despite a sign to the contrary. On at least one occasion a woman who had an office above that area was taken to the hospital, tested, and found to have had dangerous carbon monoxide levels. I only know this because she's a friend. It was never announced to the folks working in the building. Carbon monoxide alarms are not installed in any of our buildings, to my knowledge. This should be a warning to monitor these types of situations. Perhaps a law is in order to require these alarms in buildings that are adjacent to areas like loading docks.