Eighteen children, including infants and toddlers, were evacuated Friday morning from the Barrington Early Learning Center after a rooftop heating-ventilation unit leaked carbon monoxide into the building, Fire Department Lt. Jason Fanion said.
A carbon monoxide detector triggered an alarm at about 9:30 a.m., and Barrington, East Providence and Warren fire departments responded. Low levels of carbon monoxide were detected in the building, Fanion said.
As the snow fell, children and staff - about 30 people in all - were placed temporarily into police cars and the fire chief's car. They were then moved into rescue trucks and evaluated for carbon monoxide inhalation and oxygen levels "out of an abundance of caution." Clothes-pin type meters were placed on their fingers.
No one was injured, but the experience upset many of the children. The day care center, at 301 Sowams Road, closed for the day. Parents picked up their children.
"Some kids were excited to see the fire trucks, and we had some kids who were petrified," Fanion said. Tears were shed.
Once children and staff were evaluated, they were placed on a bus loaned by the Barrington YMCA "to keep them out of the elements," until parents arrived.