Update: CO Incident at Mall Sends Nine to Hospital

Update: Roosevelt Field Mall management released the following statement regarding this morning's CO incident: "From the onset of this situation, we have fully cooperated with the Nassau County Fire Marshal and emergency service departments that responded and will continue to do so. At this time, our thoughts are with the individuals affected by this unfortunate event and we wish them a speedy recovery."

According to Leanna Cherry, a public relations manager for Winthrop-University Hospital, where the nine aided were transported this morning, two construction workers are still being treated "in relation to the carbon monoxide incident."

Original Story (This article was first posted at 11:58 a.m. Thursday):

High levels of carbon monoxide inside a store at Roosevelt Field Mall sent nine people to the hospital early Thursday.

The Westbury Fire Department received the call just before 6 a.m.

Vincent McManus, division supervisor for the Nassau County Fire Marshal's office, told Patch that Abercrombie & Fitch is undergoing renovations and workers inside the store were using a propane-fired piece of equipment known as a scraper to remove old flooring.

"Normally it's not a problem if used in a well-ventilated area," McManus said of the scraper, adding that fumes accumulated as they worked inside the store, emitting "dangerous" levels of CO. "The store had to be ventilated for over an hour," he said.

A total of nine construction workers and mall security personnel were transported to Winthrop-University Hospital due to exposure. There were no shoppers or early morning walkers inside the mall at the time of the incident.

The Mineola, Carle Place, East Meadow and Bethpage fire departments also responded to the scene, along with the Mineola Volunteer Ambulance Corp. which helped with triage, McManus said.

The mall has been turned back over to mall management and is open at this time.

"We allowed people to return in sections as readings were dropping," McManus said. "This is a regular business day for them. No shoppers or [the] general public were injured or affected."