George, Iowa — Eleven people were overcome by fumes of some kind on Wednesday afternoon at a chicken confinement between George and Boyden.
According to Lyon County Sheriff Stewart Vander Stoep, the call came in about 2:40 PM, for eleven people experiencing symptoms such as vomiting, headaches, blurred vision, and respiratory problems at 3902 260th Street. That’s about five miles south of George, or six miles north of Boyden, and a mile west on A52. The address is a chicken barn which was under quarantine because of Avian Influenza (bird flu).
The sheriff says that the people were washing the walls after the bird flu outbreak. He says they originally thought the gas was anhydrous ammonia, or ammonia of some kind, but the workers said that their gas masks should have protected them from that.
The Sheriff says the George Fire Department was on the scene late Wednesday afternoon checking oxygen levels in the building.
The Sheriff says the investigation continues.
The George Fire Department, George Rescue Unit, Boyden Ambulance Service, Little Rock Ambulance Service, and the Lyon County Ambulance service all responded to this incident. Patients were transported to Sanford Sheldon and Sanford Rock Rapids Hospitals.
