Eleven people were evacuated from a row of townhouses in Rockville early Tuesday morning after being exposed to carbon monoxide from a malfunctioning hot water heater, county fire and rescue spokesmen said.
Firefighters responded to the 1200 block of 1st Street around 1:55 a.m. for a report of a possible carbon monoxide leak, said Assistant Chief Scott Graham, a spokesman for the county fire and rescue service.
“The source was found to be a faulty hot water heater in the same utility closet as [an air conditioning] system, which was assisting moving the carbon monoxide throughout the building,” Graham said.
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Washington Gas isolated the hot water heater and turned off the gas, he said.
The residents were being monitored in non-life-threatening condition Tuesday morning, said Capt. Oscar Garcia, a county fire and rescue spokesman.
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Fire and rescue reminds residents that gas appliances should burn a blue flame in order to properly burn off fuel.
“Those types of maintenance issues can be addressed through a maintenance contract” for gas appliances, Garcia said.
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