Source: https://www.tennessean.com, November 7, 2018
By: Natalie Neysa Alund and Mariah Timms

Emergency crews evacuated a portion of the Westin hotel in downtown Nashville on Wednesday morning and transported several people to the hospital after authorities detected a carbon monoxide leak in the building.

The Nashville Fire Department and Metro police responded about 6:50 a.m. at 807 Clark Place, a Metro Nashville dispatcher said.

According to fire officials, the leak sickened 14 people, and crews transported six victims to the hospital.

A Westin employee who answered the phone Wednesday morning said the hotel was not completely evacuated.

The fire department said the high carbon monoxide levels were isolated to the third floor where the hotel’s workout and pool areas are located.

“We were first alerted to the situation when a guest reported feeling unwell,” Hugh Templeman, the hotel’s general manager, said.

The hotel, he said, then contacted emergency authorities who ventilated the building.

Following safety protocol, guests on the third and fourth floors of the hotel were evacuated, Templeman said.

“The defective heating unit has been isolated and is undergoing testing,” Templeman said Wednesday. He said the business is “working closely with those guests impacted by the incident and with the fire department.”

The Westin is in compliance with fire safety codes, Nashville Fire Department spokesperson Joseph Pleasant said. Detectors are required to be close to rooms where people are sleeping when heat sources are nearby, he said.

There are no guest rooms on the third floor, so the hotel is not required to keep detectors on that level.

Pleasant said the department encourages homeowners to put detectors on every level of the house.

The hotel released a statement Wednesday afternoon saying they had resumed normal operations.

“We want to thank our partners in fire safety, law enforcement, hospital care and Piedmont Gas for your help and support today to ensure the safety of our guests and staff,” Westin Nashville General Manager Hugh Templeman said in a statement on social media.