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Mashpee elementary school gas leak forces evacuation, 2 hospitalized

MASHPEE, Mass. — Two Mashpee school cafeteria workers were hospitalized with carbon monoxide poisoning after a leak forced evacuation Tuesday.

Mashpee fire officials say they got a call from the Quashnet Elementary School just before 10 a.m. Tuesday after students and staff began complaining about a strange odor.

Investigators say a furnace in the school's mechanical room was leaking odorless CO, but also creating a smell of natural gas when it began malfunctioning.

Fire officials say CO concentration in the school's kitchen, which is next to the mechanical room, reached dangerous levels.

"We started to meter once everybody was out and we did get peak levels of around 300 parts per million, and to put that in perspective, a residential detector will go off at roughly 30... so that's kind of a lethal level," said Mashpee Fire Captain Joe Fellows.

Two cafeteria workers were sent to the hospital, one with serious CO poisoning.

Students were immediately evacuated and sent home for the day as fire crews ventilated the building.