Twenty workers are recovering after being hospitalized Monday afternoon due to a carbon monoxide and methane gas leak at JBS Packing Inc., a seafood wholesaler in downtown Port Arthur. Port Arthur firefighters were called to the facility at 111 Houston Ave., near the Port of Port Arthur, just after 2 p.m. when workers began feeling ill.
“A person down over hereโฆ they thought it was heat exhaustion,” said Interim Fire Chief Robert Havens. โWe responded, found three more people suffering the same symptoms, and then more people started suffering the same symptoms.” The 20 affected workers were transported by ambulance to four area hospitals. Havens said many were nauseous, lightheaded, and some passed out while others vomited. โWe did have some fairly serious cases out here when we first got here. People were actually passing out. But that was very short-lived. We treated them with oxygen therapy and got them transported to local hospitals,” Havens said.
