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Workers out of hospital

UPDATE: 11:15 a.m.

A fire chief says poor ventilation at a Delta greenhouse is to blame for sending dozens of workers to hospital for carbon monoxide poisoning.

Delta fire battalion chief Neil Shuster says an emergency call came in Saturday afternoon that at least 12 people at Windset Farms were suffering from inhalation of a suspected chemical agent.

He says once on scene, crews determined carbon monoxide was the culprit and that approximately 43 people required treatment on site.

The workers had been inside a greenhouse while a gas-powered pressure washer was running without adequate ventilation.

Representatives from Windset Farms did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Shuster says about 35 people were sent to hospital but all have since been released.

–from The Canadian Press

UPDATE: 6:35 a.m.

Dozens of people were taken to hospital on Saturday after they were exposed to carbon monoxide at a farm in Delta, B.C.

BC Emergency Health Services tweeted that 13 ambulances responded to "a major incident," and that 42 patients were admitted to hospital — 10 in serious to critical condition and 32 others in stable condition.

A spokeswoman for WorkSafeBC, which has taken over the investigation, said it wasn't clear how many remained in hospital on Sunday morning.

The incident reportedly occurred in a greenhouse nursery at Windset Farms, which grows produce such as tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers.

The company website says it's been in business for more than two decades and ships its produce internationally.

Officials speculated the carbon monoxide may have come from the gas powered engine of a pressure washer that was being used to clean the nursery.

Carbon monoxide is a colourless, odourless gas that's produced whenever fuel is burned.

It can cause health problems — and eventually death — because breathing it reduces the body's ability to carry oxygen in the blood.

Representatives from Windset Farms did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

– from The Canadian Press

ORIGINAL STORY: Saturday 8:45 p.m.

Exposure to carbon monoxide at a farm in Delta has led to more than 40 people being transported to hospital.

According to B.C. Emergency Health Services 32 people are in stable conditions and 10 more are in serious to critical condition as a result, BCEHS reported on Twitter.

WorkSafe BC was contacted by the Delta Police Department and has an officer on site, spokesperson Trish Chernecki said.

"We are working with the employer and first-responders and we will know more information tomorrow," Chernecki told Castanet.

Poisoning from carbon monoxide, which is odourless and tasteless, can deprive the brain, heart and other vital organs of oxygen.

Castanet will update with more information when it becomes available.



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