Gas leak sickens family at motel

? Several dozen people were evacuated from a Salina hotel and a family was hospitalized after a carbon monoxide leak, authorities said.

Deputy Salina Fire Chief Steve Moody said an ambulance was called Tuesday night to the Holiday Inn Express after a child playing in the hotel’s swimming pool passed out. The children’s siblings and parents also weren’t feeling well.

He said carbon monoxide levels began rising in the pool area after the pool’s heater malfunctioned. Fumes from the pool room eventually entered the hotel’s duct system.

Fire crews measured carbon monoxide levels of 1,600 parts per million in the pool area, a level that can lead to death within an hour, Moody said.

The parents and children, ages 9 and 10, were taken to Salina Regional Health Center, where they were treated and released, a hospital spokeswoman said.

A front desk manager estimated about 75 people were evacuated from the hotel for about an hour.

Moody said the situation could have been much worse. “Certainly,” he said, “it could have led to a real tragic scene if (the heater) had ran all night.”