During Storm, Workers Slept, Worked In Tweed Hanger That Had Elevated CO Levels Due To Faulty Boiler: FD

EAST HAVEN, CT — The East Haven Fire Department received an anonymous complaint Tuesday. The concern: Is a carbon monoxide detector reading of 200 parts per million safe?

East Haven Fire Chief Matthew Marcarelli said he and a fire department crew immediately responded to investigate.

They discovered the boiler in the Tweed New Haven Airport maintenance building, a hanger, has a "massive" and "seriously corroded" hole in its flue, or chimney, according to photos and Marcarelli. The high CO had been an issue for at least five days, officials were told by workers.

The boiler was last inspected six years ago, Marcarelli said. When asked whether the hole in the flue may have existed longer than five days, Marcarelli said it was likely. He said the fire department has received no reports of injury or illness among Tweed maintenance workers.

"The potential was there," he said.

Some workers have slept in the building since Sunday’s storm for snow removal operations, given Marcarelli said he saw at least one cot inside.

In industrial workplaces, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration sets the permissible exposure limit at 50 ppm over eight hours. At 200 ppm, OSHA notes immediate health effects, including frontal headache, fatigue, nausea, and dizziness within two to three hours, with possible disorientation and loss of consciousness.

For workers who slept in the building, the risk, and exposure would have been heightened, Marcarelli said. OSHA says that at 200 ppm, it is "crucial to evacuate the area immediately, ventilate the space, and seek medical attention for affected workers."

Marcarelli said firefighters evacuate buildings at much lower levels.

"Our action level is 35 ppm," Marcarelli said. "We immediately evacuate a building — a house — at 35 ppm.."

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health says exposure to levels above 200 ppm be strictly prohibited.

What airport, local and state officials say, and don't say

Marcarelli said Avports spokesperson Tom Cavaliere arrived while the fire department was on scene.

Cavaliere is Avports’ director of community engagement, marketing, and communications at Tweed-New Haven Airport. He also serves as treasurer on the New Haven Port Authority Board of Commissioners.

Patch contacted Cavaliere for comment early Thursday with a deadline. Hours later, he passed a reporters questions to Tweed New Haven Airport spokesperson Andrew King.

King said that the matter was an "an employee issue," adding that he knew "100 percent" that an employee is the one who made the anonymous call to fire officials. If that's accurate, a whistleblower. King said he'd do more fact-finding and send a statement.

John McKay, the state Department of Administrative Services, Communications Office emailed this statement:

"Our Boiler Inspection Team was alerted to a carbon monoxide leak in the hangar and responded. A hole was found in the heating system's flue and was promptly sealed. Because of the cold, the heat was kept on overnight as long as the hangar was unoccupied.

The following morning, a contractor arrived to permanently fix the issue, and operations resumed normally afterward."

McKay said the boiler was last inspected in March 2024 and is due for inspection in two months. McKay was asked if the hole in the boiler flue and corrosion could develop in 22 months, and would the hole not be noticed before during routine checks. If answered, this post will be updated.

As King noted in a phone call, airport workers did their own boiler inspection.

King's emailed statement:

"On Tuesday, January 27, East Haven fire officials responded to an anonymous report involving a single carbon monoxide detector in Tweed New Haven Airport’s maintenance building. Inspections conducted by the East Haven Fire Department found no evidence to confirm the detector’s reading. No measurable or hazardous carbon monoxide levels were detected in the facility.

Out of an abundance of precaution, the building was temporarily closed pending additional inspections. The following morning, the building was reinspected by the East Haven Fire Department, the Connecticut State Boiler Inspector, along with a licensed third-party heating service provider, which reconfirmed that no evidence of measurable or hazardous carbon monoxide levels existed in the facility.

At the direction of the State Inspector, the exhaust vent was replaced and reinspected by the East Haven Fire Department. To ensure reliable readings, the CO detector has been replaced.

The building was subsequently reopened and returned to normal operations.

The airport takes all health and safety concerns seriously and appreciates the prompt response by the East Haven Fire Department and coordination with state authorities.”

Marcarelli, from his report, said that workers on scene said that when the CO detector read 200 ppm or greater, they needed to open doors to try to ventilate the building. They told firefighters that "the problem had been known for greater than five days."

Fire officials said that when they arrived, the boiler was turned off.

Meanwhile, local officials followed protocol.

East Haven Building Official Will Brown contacted the state’s chief boiler inspector, Michael Devanney. Fire departments do not have authority over boilers in commercial buildings. That responsibility lies with the local building official — Brown in East Haven — and the state inspector.

Devanney was unable to visit the site Tuesday, Marcarelli said. As a temporary measure, the boiler was patched later that day so it could remain operational amid frigid temperatures. Marcarelli said workers are not permitted inside the building until the boiler is fully repaired and passes inspection.

Devanney declined to comment directly on the situation and requested that his manager be contacted. A call to Omarys Vasquez, state building inspector for the Division of Regulatory Compliance, was not returned. McKay said he was speaking for Vasquez. The state building inspector oversees the Bureau of Boilers, which inspects and issues certificates for high-pressure boilers in commercial buildings statewide.

"These inspections are crucial to guaranteeing public safety and compliance with relevant regulations," the state website says.

But Marcarelli said the state boiler inspector did issue a violation and ordered Avports to repair the flue. Once repairs are completed and approved, the building may be reoccupied, he said. A contractor was on site Thursday morning to perform repairs, Marcarelli said. He and Brown plan to inspect the site once repairs are completed.

East Haven Acting Fire Marshal Matthew Monico identified several violations at the site, though none rose to the level of the boiler and carbon monoxide issue, Marcarelli said.

Avports will then have 30 days to address additional outstanding boiler issues, he said.

The City of New Haven owns the building, leased to Tweed New Haven Airport, which is operated by Avports.

The building is located on Thompson Avenue in East Haven, prompting the East Haven Fire Department’s response.

The story was updated to reflect the last state boiler inspection date.