High levels of carbon monoxide detected in Elgin high-rise

Dozens of people were evacuated from their homes Thursday afternoon when a northwest suburban Elgin high-rise reported elevated levels of carbon monoxide.

A smoke alarm activated on the sixth floor of the six-story residential hi-rise at 130 S. State St. at 5:37 p.m., according to a statement from the Elgin Fire Department.

Firefighters arrived three minutes later and learned that a sixth-floor apartment’s carbon monoxide detector was going off. When the fire fighters turned it off, they heard another detector in a neighboring apartment, fire officials said.

“The carbon monoxide levels on the sixth floor were found to be elevated to hazardous levels,” fire officials said in the statement.

The entire building was checked and each floor had elevated levels of carbon monoxide, with the highest levels detected on the 4th, 5th, and 6th floors, fire officials said.

Up to 25 residents were evacuated to the lobby of a building at 120 S. State St. as fire officials began to ventilate the building. Residents were evacuated for between 30 and 40 minutes, and they were allowed to return to their homes once the carbon monoxide levels reached zero, fire officials said.

The source of the carbon monoxide came from construction machinery, which had been operating in the building during the day, fire officials said. No injuries were reported.