Ole Miss gas leak prompts evacuation

Firefighters evacuated dozens of students from a University of Mississippi dormitory on Thursday afternoon after finding high levels of carbon monoxide that responders said would have gone unnoticed if not for a student's store-bought detector.

"If she had not had it, it could have been bad, especially overnight when people are sleeping," said Oxford Fire Chief Cary Sallis.

The incident has prompted university officials to consider installing carbon monoxide detectors in all dorms, something already required by the International Building Code of 2012 for newly constructed residential facilities but not for preexisting structures.

Ole Miss follows the latest building code.

"We will definitely consider carbon monoxide detectors," said university spokesman Danny Blanton. "The safety of our students is our utmost priority."

Gas had leaked from a malfunctioning boiler, according to the Oxford Fire Department, which was dispatched by campus housing to the all-girls Hefley Hall around 2 p.m.

The parent of a dorm resident had called Ole Miss after the girl's personal carbon monoxide detector sounded. Campus housing officials responded and took their own readings before calling the fire department, said Oxford Fire Chief Cary Sallis.

The student's name was not provided.

"Readings were high but not dangerous," Blanton said. "But we evacuated the whole building as a precaution."

Students escaped safely and no one was injured, but an almost identical incident Tuesday at Freed-Hardeman University in Henderson, Tennessee, highlights the potential for disaster in such a scenario.

Residents of an all-girls dorm were evacuated at the private Christian school after several of them became ill from a carbon monoxide leak due to a broken boiler. The dorm had gas detectors, but they malfunctioned and failed to sound.

The girls' symptoms alerted officials to the leak, which was contained within about three hours, according to Jackson Sun newspaper.

Carbon monoxide is an odorless gas produced by combustible engines, appliances and heating systems and is poisonous to humans. Some gas companies add an odorant to the product so leaks can be detected, but some do not.

More than 400 Americans die and an additional 20,000 land in emergency rooms due to carbon monoxide poisoning every year, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

It's unclear how long the gas had been leaking at Hefley before the detector caught it, but Ole Miss freshman Kenya Wheeler said she started feeling dizzy minutes after entering her room. Along with headaches, dizziness is one of the first symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning.

Wheeler said she saw firefighters walking from room to room with handheld devices that emit beeps before finally ordering the evacuation, but she didn't learn the reason until later she was already safely out of her room.

Residents were able to gather books, purses and any other items before leaving and were allowed back to their rooms about one hour later.

D'Lacia McKinley, a freshman resident, said the whole situation scared her.

"My friend's mother died two summers ago from carbon monoxide," she said. "So this hits close to home."

To contact Emily Le Coz, call (601) 961-7249 or follow @emily_lecoz on Twitter.