Union Gospel Mission Twin Cities staff members hospitalized after kitchen gas leak
ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - Some staff members were hospitalized after a carbon monoxide gas leak shut down the kitchen of Union Gospel Kitchen Twin Cities temporarily Wednesday, ahead of its busiest holiday of the year.
What we know
Officials at Union Gospel Mission, a nonprofit and homeless shelter in St. Paul, said that some of their staff members were hospitalized after a carbon monoxide gas leak in the kitchen.
The St. Paul Fire Department reports that three patients were taken to the hospital for symptoms related to the carbon monoxide gas leak, two of which were taken to Hennepin County Medical Center for further treatment.
Sarah Peterka says the staff members are now doing okay after being sent to the hospital.
Officials say residents were housed in other buildings at Union Gospel Mission after the incident.
The gas leak shut the kitchen down for a while, causing some logistical hurdles in giving out meals. The nonprofit was set to send out 1,000 meals to 17 different St. Paul's low-income high-rises for Thanksgiving.
Peterka said they had to pivot their plan slightly, but luckily the turkey was already made. The people receiving the meal will just have to heat it up themselves.
Even with the kitchen shut down, the shelter was able to still serve three meals on Wednesday,
Peterka says everything was set to go for them to serve their Thanksgiving feast on Thursday.
Union Gospel Mission hopes to serve around 1,400 people for Thanksgiving.
As of 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, crews were still ventilating the building.
What we don't know
It is not clear how the gas leak happened and Xcel energy crews are still working to determine the source of the leak.
The condition of the hospitalized staff members is not currently known.