Rec Center In Lafayette To Reopen After Chemical Incident
LAFAYETTE, Colo. (CBS4) - The recreation center In Lafayette will reopen Monday but the pool will remain closed after 22 people -- mostly children -- got sick on Saturday.
They were all in the pool area when they started feeling ill and the whole Bob L. Burger Recreation Center was evacuated. Investigators don't yet know what made people sick, but authorities say it may have been chemicals in the water.
"I felt it in my eyes. They started watering and stuff like that," a rec center patron said.
Mike was inside when people who were exposed came rushing out of the pool area.
"I was in the weight room working out, and I was getting ready to walk in the locker room and people were coming out coughing and choking … having a hard time breathing," he said.
Twenty-two people were rushed to hospitals with symptoms of coughing, nausea and vomiting. The Boulder County hazmat team investigated for over an hour but was not able to detect any lingering gas or chemical levels in the air.
"We had our top people in the county looking at it, and they could not make a determination as to what it might have been," Lafayette Fire Chief David Friedel said.
Friedel says at least seven agencies helped out with the hectic scene.
"Whenever you have 22 patients, that's a big deal," he said. "We're a small community … our initial resources were overwhelmed, so we had to call for mutual aid."
The Boulder County Health Department will perform pool water testing on Monday.
Statement From The City Of Lafayette
Based on favorable air quality test results measured throughout the Bob L. Burger Recreation Center both today and on Saturday, the facility will re-open for regular operating hours on Monday, March 21 at 5:00 a.m. The pool closure will continue until further testing is complete and test results are analyzed. The Boulder County Health Department is scheduled to perform comprehensive pool water testing on Monday, March 21. All recreation programs will run as scheduled with the exception of aquatic classes and open swim.
Air monitoring tests performed at the Bob L. Burger Recreation Center immediately following reports of patrons coughing and experiencing nausea in the pool area late Saturday afternoon, revealed no abnormal gas or chemical levels in the facility. The Lafayette Fire Department carried out a second round of testing on Sunday, again resulting in normal air quality throughout the pool, fitness, and public areas of the facility.
The Lafayette community has relied on the Bob L. Burger Recreation Center to provide healthy, safe, and quality fitness opportunities for over 25 years. Patrons are assured that same level of dedication to health and safety is being maintained as the Recreation Department continues to investigate the cause of Saturday's evacuation.
