Eighteen workers got hit with a dangerous dose of carbon monoxide at a Fort Worth bakery Thursday morning, according to authorities. The employees were hustled out of Guanajuato Bakery and into medical care after ringing in an alert about the potential poisoning. The MedStar Ambulance and Fort Worth firefighters were called to the scene at 3301 E. Belknap Street around 10:30 a.m., as reported by NBC DFW.
Fort Worth Fire Department Spokesman Craig Trojacek said that the staff began suffering symptoms in the morning, which led them to seek help. Each of the bakery workers was transported to the hospital as a precautionary measure to check their carbon monoxide levels. An earlier construction job on an oven inside a bakery on Wednesday has fallen under scrutiny, though it hasn't been confirmed as the culprit behind the gas leak, as per WFAA.
Ambulances geared up to tackle mass casualties, referred to as "AMBUS," were dispatched to cart most of the 18 workers to the hospital, all of whom were in "green" condition, indicating expectations of no serious harm. Guanajuato Bakery was void of customers during the scare, ensuring the exposure was limited to employees. Trojacek declared that the area had been cleared by 4:00 p.m. and fire crews performed air checks every 15 minutes to confirm that it was safe.
While the bakery aired out, a touching scene unfolded on the periphery. Julio Hernandez, a customer who had come to grab his birthday cake, was met with a dizzying array of emergency vehicles and first responders. "Damn, I did not expect this at all. I was just driving here, pick it up, and that’s it," Hernandez said, in an exchange with NBC DFW.
The aftermath of the incident has the bakery promising to reopen the next day. "Yesterday we had someone change a part of one of our ovens and they, unfortunately, didn't do it correctly...Employees started to feel bad, so the property manager asked Keyla Orduno, an employee, to call authorities,” Guanajuato Bakery said, in a statement obtained by NBC DFW. The crucial reminder here, as echoed by Trojacek, is the silent danger of carbon monoxide and the underscored importance of detectors to prevent such near-misses.
