A woman was left fighting for her life with carbon monoxide poisoning after a disconnected boiler leaked the poisonous gas into her illegally converted Queens apartment on Christmas Eve morning, officials said.
The woman, who has not been identified, was rushed to Nassau County Medical Center in critical condition after she was found on the top floor of the 194th Street home in St. Albans just before 10:30 a.m., according to fire officials and the Department of Buildings.
Three other people who lived in the home were also taken to a local hospital in stable condition.
One of the building’s residents, Ryan Mohan, told WABC that the woman and her daughter suddenly “collapsed.”
A responding firefighter’s carbon monoxide detector wailed as they walked through the home searching for the woman, the outlet noted.
“They had a meter to test each floor for carbon monoxide and each floor showed carbon monoxide,” Mohan said.
Officials did not provide the identities or ages of the victims.
Inspectors with the Department of Buildings were later called to the scene and discovered that a boiler was not correctly connected — so the carbon monoxide was not “properly venting outside of the house,” a DOB spokesperson said.
Two boilers and a pair of hot water heaters in the building were ordered shut down.
The two-family home also was being used to house seven families, with apartments being rented out in the cellar and attic without proper work permits, according to the DOB.
Residents are now forced to stay elsewhere this Christmas after a partial vacate order was placed on the home.
The Red Cross was helping the displaced tenants find another place to stay on Tuesday.
“I feel sorry for the tenants because now it’s a holiday,” a neighbor told ABC 7.
“Now they have to find homes to be. It’s a mess.”
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