IL- By Jason Meisner, Tribune – An apparent carbon monoxide leak forced more than 40 people from a Cicero apartment building days after one of the building’s residents was found dead with slightly elevated levels of the toxic gas in his system, authorities said today.
Emergency crews evacuated more than 40 residents from the building, 5040 W.24th St., beginning about 9 p.m. Wednesday due to a “carbon monoxide leak,” and a temporary shelter was set up for victims who had no other place to stay, according to the American Red Cross. There were no reported injuries.
Authorities had gone to the building to test for carbon monoxide levels after learning that a man who had been found dead in his apartment on Monday had the gas in his system, police said.
The man, Richard L. Wilson, 50, was pronounced dead at MacNeal Hospital in Berwyn, and an autopsy determined he died of heart disease, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
A spokesman said that although the manner of death was natural, the medical examiner’s office notified authorities that Wilson did have slightly elevated levels of carbon monoxide in his system.