GREENVILLE — The Kaukauna Fire Department was one of numerous agencies to respond early Saturday to a Greenville assisted living facility after high levels of CO were detected.
According to a news release, the Greenville Fire Department was sent out at 4:47 a.m. Saturday to Living Tree Estates outside of Appleton for a report of a CO alarm sounding and unknown odor.
When first responders entered the building, both meters carried by the crew immediately detected very high levels of CO and detectable levels of natural gas.
Given the dangerously cold weather, rescue crews say they knew evacuation was going to be a significant issue.
Quickly coordinating with staff, all residents were quickly moved to a safe section of the building to shelter in place.
Other firefighters began opening windows and initiating negative pressure ventilation to isolate and protect the residents.
The Greenville Life Safety box was initiated to the first alarm level, bringing ambulances and school busses to the site for evacuation.
Plans to evacuate and setup a temporary shelter at Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church were put into motion.
As first responders neared the time to start the evacuation, however, the ventilation efforts combined with identifying an iced-over furnace vent pipe causing the issue, allowed crews to begin to manage the air quality.
Ultimately crews were able to mitigate the issue, and did not need to evacuate the residents offsite.
Gold Cross Ambulance, Hortonville FD, Ellington Fire, Ellington 1st Responders, Grand Chute Fire Department, Appleton Airport Public Safety, Oshkosh FD, City of Kaukauna Fire Department, De Pere Fire Rescue, Black Creek EMS, Outagamie County Sheriff’s Office, Outagamie County Communications Center – 911, Outagamie County Emergency Management, Outagamie County CERT, Hortonville Area School District – Transportation Dept, Hortonville Police Dept, Red Cross, and Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church assisted.
