Carbon monoxide scare at Concord senior living facility

Seventy residents were evacuated and four people checked out at a hospital after a carbon monoxide leak Wednesday at a senior living facility in Concord.

The cause of the leak remains under investigation.

First responders evacuated 70 residents at Deaconess Abundant Life Community mid-morning before the residents returned safely to their living spaces around 1 p.m., according to the Concord Fire Department.

Two contractors working at the site and a pair of facility residents received treatment at an area hospital as a precautionary measure, Fire Chief Thomas Judge said in a release.

Concord first responders responded to a fire alarm at the senior living facility at 80 Deaconess Road, near Emerson Hospital and the Concord Turnpike, just after 7:35 a.m. Multiple carbon monoxide alarms were going off when firefighters arrived.

First responders found “highly elevated levels” of carbon monoxide in the basement of the building’s northern section, Judge said. The incident reached a three-alarm response, with his department bringing in mutual aid from surrounding communities to assist in evacuating residents.

The town’s plumbing inspector is investigating the cause of the leak, and a timetable for when residents will be able to return to the building has not been determined as of noon.

Police closed Old Road to Nine Acre Corner except for emergency vehicles and Emerson Hospital visitors.