Two hospitalized after carbon monoxide leak at Fife casino-hotel

FIFE, Wash. – Medics took two people to a local hospital Sunday after firefighters detected carbon monoxide on the third floor of the Emerald Queen Hotel & Casino in this community, said fire department officials in nearby Tacoma.

Hotel workers smelled a chemical odor coming from a storage room about 5:20 p.m., said Tacoma's assistant fire chief, Jim Duggan. Firefighters evacuated between 40 and 50 people from the hotel's third and fourth floors, he said.

A Tacoma fire hazardous-materials team detected the presence of carbon monoxide on the hotel's third floor, Duggan said. They were trying to determine the source of the gas.

The two people transported to local hospitals complained of headaches, Duggan said. Their conditions were not immediately available Sunday night. Medics treated and released three others at the hotel, Duggan said.

Several guests and hotel workers sat outside the main entrance after the evacuation, including Morris Dickhart of Aurora, Colo., who's staying at the hotel with about 15 relatives while attending a family reunion in nearby Milton.

"They just said, 'We're evacuating the hotel,' Dickhart said, adding that he was not told why.