4 people taken to hospital, some unconscious after hazmat, rescue operation at Dayton business

DAYTON — Four people were taken to the hospital, including two people who were unconscious after cleaning a pit at a Dayton business Wednesday.

Around 3:30 p.m., Dayton fire and hazmat crews were called to a business in the 1100 block of West Stewart Streets for four people who were in a 12-foot pit unconscious, according to District Chief Adam Landis.

Fire crews entered the confined space and were able to remove the four people from the pit and take them to the hospital— two of the people were unconscious and two were conscious, Landis said.

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Their current conditions are not known.

Landis believes that the pressure washer the workers were using to clean the pit could have been responsible for them losing consciousness, but crews are still investigating.

He reminded the public to make sure when they are using anything that has exhaust or uses gas to make sure it is well-ventilated.

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‘You have to make sure that everything’s ventilated, that carbon monoxide can build up and can cause you to go unconscious and ultimately cause death,” Landis said.

He did not confirm if carbon monoxide gas was present in the pit the workers were in.

Crews were able to rescue the workers within in an hour of arriving on the scene. Something Landis called “outstanding” for a confined space incident of this size.

We will update this story as we get new information.

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