Local News in Brief : Blocked Vent May Be Tied to Fatal Fumes
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Fumes that killed one man and critically injured three other people probably accumulated in a Los Angeles apartment building because a vent was blocked by plastic sheeting that workers laid on the roof, authorities said Wednesday.
About 200 people were left temporarily homeless by the Tuesday night incident at Witmer and 3rd streets.
Investigators were trying to determine whether carbon monoxide leaked from a connection between a basement water heater and a side vent. City Building and Safety Department official Mike Lee said the owner, James P. Lynch, will be cited for leaks and ordered to repair them.
City inspectors ordered that the 42-unit building remain closed until they can decide what other repairs must be made. They said the problem may have been caused by some sort of damage to an incinerator shaft that was used as a vent from the basement’s boiler heating system to the roof. An official acknowledged that the exact cause may never be known.
Evacuees were staying with friends and relatives or at an emergency Red Cross shelter in the gymnasium at nearby Belmont High School.
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