More Than 20 Hospitalized After Hotel Gas Leak

Carbon monoxide gas leaking from a faulty generating unit at a Fallbrook hotel led to the hospitalization of more than 20 people Saturday and the evacuation and temporary shutdown of the building.

All of those hospitalized were released without permanent health damage, authorities said.

The incident occurred at La Estancia Inn, a 41-room Fallbrook hotel and restaurant. The inn was about a third full Saturday night, a spokesman said.

Fire officials who discovered the leak--eventually traced to a propane-powered cogeneration unit that produces hot water and electricity--evacuated the hotel and shut it down between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. Saturday. The 2-year-old generating unit has been permanently removed from service, said Herb Lewis, co-owner of the La Estancia.

No one affected by the leak lost consciousness, although 7 hotel guests and 1 visitor complained of nausea, said Capt. Charles Glasgow of the North County Fire Protection District, which responded to the scene. The 8 were transported to UC San Diego Medical Center, where they were treated in a hyperbaric chamber--a device often used in carbon monoxide poisoning cases--and later released.

Twelve firefighters were also taken to area hospitals for observation, Glasgow said.

Also hospitalized for observation was a California Highway Patrol officer and an undetermined number of other guests, he said.

Carbon monoxide is a colorless, odorless and highly toxic gas.

Some hotel guests initially complained of feeling ill shortly before midnight Friday, but assumed they had contracted mild cases of food poisoning, authorities said. On Saturday morning, the hotel manager called for an ambulance after a number of guests reported persistent feelings of nausea.