BREAKING NEWS: Mass Casualty Incident in Ocean City

OCEAN CITY, Md. — Emergency crews responded to a carbon monoxide alarm at a hotel in Ocean City late Friday morning, resulting in multiple medical evaluations and hospitalizations.

The Ocean City Fire Department was dispatched around 11 a.m. to the Ashore Hotel, located at 10100 Coastal Highway, after a carbon monoxide detector was triggered. Ryan Whittington of the department said, “Upon arrival, our firefighters were able to use our gas meters to determine there, in fact, was a carbon monoxide leak.”

Due to the number of individuals affected, the incident commander called for additional EMS support.

Whittington said “18 patients were evaluated, with four of them transported to local hospitals for further evaluation.” Those four individuals had elevated levels of carbon monoxide in their blood.

Ocean City building inspectors, the local gas company, and the Fire Marshal’s Office are investigating the incident to determine the source of the gas exposure.

At the Ashore Hotel, Jennifer Myren expected a more seamless Friday. “We were staying on the 15th floor, and we were getting ready to go out to breakfast when we heard all the alarms go off,” she said. “We grabbed our stuff as quickly as we could and went down the steps, all 15 flights.”

Another hotel guest, an older man named Brian, had traveled from New York to enjoy his vacation. “I was coming back from breakfast and saw all the fire trucks. They told me there was a carbon monoxide leak,” said Brian. He, along with others, speculated about the origins of the leak. “It was contained to the first, second, and sixth floors. They figured out it was in the kitchen,” said Brian.

While the New Yorker said the incident wouldn’t prevent him from returning to the hotel, he expressed concern over his dog. “If the gas gets into the rooms, you know, she could’ve passed out,” he said.

Officials said updates will be provided as the investigation continues.