Off Duty Firefighter saves 30 people from carbon monoxide poisoning

Around 30 people were affected after the deadly gas started leaking in a restaurant in Clemmons on Saturday, reported a local newspaper.

The police department said to the local media that the River Ridge Tap House restaurant in Clemmons suffered a malfunction in the heating system.

At that time, around 40 people were inside the restaurant including an off-duty firefighter who was there with some friends.

Stephanie Miner, the off-duty firefighter, noticed that people were getting ill, so without wasting any second, he called the police and emergency services.

By the time fire officials reached, the condition of people had become worse.

Few of them were so serious that they were immediately transferred to hospital for intensive care. And those who were “almost normal” were treated on the spot by the paramedics before getting discharged.

Explaining the incident, Steve Williams, Assistant Chief of Fire Department, said “the gas started leaking from the restaurant’s heating pipes and soon it started spreading all over the restaurant. In few minutes, customers started to experience headaches, vomiting, and nausea because of carbon monoxide gas.”

He added “luckily, an off-duty officer was there, who raised the alarm and avoided any serious issue”.

Talking to the Miner, a reporter asked about the incident. In reply, he said “I was there with friends, when saw some people were getting ‘ill’. I assumed that something was wrong and hence informed the emergency services”.

Carbon Monoxide is an odorless gas, hence it was impossible for the workers to know what was happening, said an expert.