A hotel pool heater was the likely source of carbon monoxide exposure in an incident Saturday that sent more than a dozen people to hospitals, authorities said.
Fourteen people, including at least six children, were hospitalized in the incident at a Hampton Inn in Marysville, Ohio, city fire and police officials said in a statement Monday.
Two were stabilized in critical condition, five were stabilized in serious condition and four were treated and released, the officials said. Three people were treated out of town, and their conditions were not available.
Although the investigation continued Tuesday, authorities have zeroed in on a heater for the hotel’s indoor pool that they believe was the source of carbon monoxide.
“Marysville Fire found life threatening levels of carbon monoxide in the pool area of the hotel,” according to the city’s statement. “During the initial investigation, the source of the carbon monoxide is believed to be a pool heater.”
Officials have not said what caused the heater to produce such high levels of carbon monoxide.
Fire officials went to the hotel based on a report that a 2-year-old girl had become unconscious, but they soon received additional calls reporting dizziness and sickness.
The hotel was evacuated and closed through Sunday night, they said.
Steve Aldridge of Amerilodge Group said in a written statement late Saturday that the Hampton Inn Marysville was “fully cooperating with the local authorities.”
The state of Ohio does not appear to require carbon monoxide detectors for indoor hotel pools.
Pool heaters have been the source of deadly carbon monoxide exposure in the past. Tennis star Vitas Gerulaitis died in 1994 of carbon monoxide poisoning from an improperly vented pool heater at a friend’s home in Long Island, New York.
Matthew Mata contributed.