UPDATE: SCE workers affected by propane leak

MO))) received a report this morning that workers from Sunny Corner Enterprises were being taken to the Emergency Room at Region 7 Hospital for treatment after a propane leak.

Witnesses in the ER said that around 11:20 this morning, CODE ORANGE was announced in the ER, and several medical personnel rushed to the ER to await the arrival with the affected workers.

UPDATE: reports are that the workers were treated with oxygen, and everyone seems ok. Some are being held for observation. WorkSafe NB is unsure if it was a propane leak or carbon monoxide. Some workers said they think if it was propane it could have come from the heating system. Some SCE employees, including the ones that called MO))), say the whole thing was blown out of proportion.

7 patients were transported to hospital by ambulance with flashing lights.

The Miramichi Police issued the following report:

Miramichi Police Force responded to a medical call of a man passed out at 170 Walsh Ave., Miramichi at 09:40 hrs. this date. The address is for an industrial complex, Sunny Corner Enterprises.

Upon arrival at the scene it was quickly determined that a noted odour of a foreign substance was detected. All employees of the complex were evacuated to another building. The man who passed out had regained consciousness and was treated by Paramedics.

Miramichi Fire Dept. arrived on scene and entered the building. The first concern was that all persons were accounted for after being evacuated. Fire Fighters then checked for air qualigy and determined a concern, which required the building to be ventilated.

WorkSafe NB is investigating the nature of the foreign substance and the cause of the accident.

A total of 34 people were triaged at the scene resulting in 7 being transported by Ambulance to the Hospital. A Miramichi City Transit Bus was utilized to transport the remaining casualties.

The investigation into the accident is ongoing.

from CBC:

Thirty-four people were transported to the Miramichi Regional Hospital Wednesday morning, seven of them in "critical condition," following a gas leak at a business in the northern New Brunswick city.

Preliminary results suggest it was carbon monoxide poisoning, said Greg MacLeod, general manager of Sunny Corner Enterprises Inc., the manufacturing company that owns the building where the leak occurred.

The cause and origin of the leak at the Sunny Corner assembly plant have not yet been determined, he said.

All of the employees are recovering and are expected to be released from hospital by Wednesday night, said MacLeod.

The building will remain closed on Thursday — and possibly longer — as WorkSafeNB continues to investigate, he said.

There is no danger to the general public and the company will continue to monitor the building to ensure the conditions are safe before workers return, officials said.

Alerted by worker passing out

Kirk Mullin, a company official, said the company was alerted to the problem when one of the assembly-line workers passed out.

The employees were assembling drill rig components.

Responding emergency crews detected the odour of a foreign substance and ordered the building evacuated.

Police said 36 people were in the building at the time; 34 of them were taken to hospital.

Some employees needed medical attention more urgently than others, but all of them exhibited the same symptoms, said Const. Todd Chadwick, of the Miramichi Police Force.

"Various ailments, which would be nausea, respiratory, headaches, confusion — all of which would be related to breathing in some sort of substance," he said.

Ambulance New Brunswick officials said 13 of the employees were transported by ambulance.

Of those, seven were deemed in "critical condition," which means there was a "risk to life and limb" and they were rushed to hospital with the ambulance lights and sirens activated.

The other six were taken by ambulance without the lights and sirens activated.

The remaining 21 people were transported by a Miramichi City Transit bus, officials said.

Initial reports suggested propane

The Miramichi Police Force said it was called to the business at 9:40 a.m. local time.

"Upon arrival at the scene, it was quickly determined that a noted odour of a foreign substance was detected," said Const. Todd Chadwick.

He said in a statement that the city's fire department "checked for air quality and determined a concern, which required the building to be ventilated."

Police initially believed it was a propane leak.

Sunny Corner is a construction, fabrication and industrial sales company. Its head office is located at 259 Dalton Ave. in Miramichi.

The company also has a fabrication office on Water Street and a branch office in Saint John.