ATLANTA — At least five people have been hospitalized after a carbon monoxide leak at a downtown Atlanta hotel.
The Atlanta Fire Rescue Department responded to the Residence Inn on Peachtree Street NW on Friday Morning.
Atlanta Assistant Fire Chief Greg Gray told Channel 2’s Bryan Mims that fire crews arrived and learned that there was a carbon monoxide leak affecting the whole building.
Crews evacuated the entire building, and there were three adults and two children who were taken to the hospital to be treated.
“We did go into the rooms, floor by floor, from the 20th floor all the way down to make sure the building was clear,” Gray said.
An investigation into what caused the gas leak is underway. The fire department said they are working with the building’s management to learn what happened.
[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]
Gray said there were 160 rooms in the hotel, though not all were occupied, and that only the five victims he’d mentioned had been transported. The conditions of the victims were not clear, but Gray said they were receiving updates from Grady Memorial Hospital.
A MARTA bus was sent to the scene, which Gray said was standard procedure, to shelter people in the cold while crews responded to the hotel.
“We ended up with about 20 units from Atlanta Fire Rescue, which is about 80 members, and that’s not counting additional members who came in from headquarters, our civilian personnel and folks who are out here to assist us,” Gray said, adding that they also received help from the Atlanta Police Department and Grady through the unified command process.
After arriving on scene, Gray said they were able to evacuate the whole hotel in about an hour.
Channel 2 Action News will bring you the latest information at the scene, LIVE on Channel 2 Action News starting at 4 p.m.
TRENDING STORIES:
- Georgia Power warns customers to be ‘vigilant of scams’ in the new year
- Stray neighborhood fireworks torch metro Atlanta football coach’s yard, nearly burn his house down
- Jimmy Carter funeral: These roads around the Carter Center are now closed
Carbon monoxide is a colorless, odorless gas that is a byproduct of combustion. Many household items including gas- and oil-burning furnaces, portable generators and charcoal grills can produce carbon monoxide.
The Atlanta-based Center for Disease Control and Prevention says at least 420 die from accidental CO poisoning in the United States every year and more than 100,000 are treated at emergency rooms.
Symptoms of carbon dioxide include headache, dizziness, weakness, nausea, vomiting, chest pain and confusion.
The CDC recommends that homeowners install battery-operated CO detectors and check them regularly. You should also have your furnace inspected every year. The CDC says to never use generators inside your home or garage and instead only use one outside more than 20 feet away from your home.
[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
©2025 Cox Media Group
