Hundreds Evacuated From Washington Heights Building After Carbon Monoxide Scare, FDNY Says

WASHINGTON HEIGHTS, NY - Hundreds of people were evacuated from a Washington Heights apartment building Friday after firefighteds detected possibly fatal levels of carbon monoxide, an FDNY spokesman said.

Firefighters responding to a manhole fire at 320 Wadsworth Avenue around 10 a.m. detected high CO levels while performing searches in the building, an FDNY spokesman said. Residents were forced to leave and had not been able to reenter three hours later, an FDNY spokesman told Patch.

"It started this morning, the electrical sockets and lights were flickering," resident Rajah Hockley said.

"I came outside to walk my dogs and saw Con Ed and the FDNT. It smelled like gasoline and I went back inside to tell my kids to pack their stuff in case they evacuate the building."

Hockley told Patch that a few hours later the FDNY came around and began evacuating building residents.

Nobody was injured during the building evacuation, an FDNY spokesman told Patch.

The FDNY and Con Edison remained on scene at 320 Wadsworth Ave. as CO levels dropped to a safe level.

Photo by Brendan Krisel/ Patch