by Brent Frazier
NASHVILLE, Tenn.- Air around a South Carthage apartment complex was tested Wednesday, after several residents were hospitalized.
"I had a headache and my eyes were burning," said Clydette Rickard, a tenant of roughly one year. "They were just killing me. It's awful!"
Officials said that a building in the Riverwood Apartment Complex in Carthage, Tennessee on Highway 53 was evacuated last week.
Rickhard and three other residents were taken to Riverview Memorial Hospital in Carthage, last week after complaining of being red-faced, having difficulty breaking and trembling. Residents believed their symptoms were caused by the strange smell in the air.
"The manager went into one of the apartments, and she collapsed from the odor," said tenant Susan Garrison, who was also taken to the hospital along with her 89-year-old mother.
It was unclear what the ‘strange smell' was, or why it caused people to be sick.
Staffers at the apartment complex closed the building last week and as of Wednesday night one unit remained uninhabitable.
Sonny Carter, the Director of Smith County Emergency Management, confirmed that something in the air was making people sick, but he was unsure of what that thing could be. Carter tested the air for combustible gases.
"Gasoline, Acetone, Butain, Propane..." Carter explained.
Although Carter's leak indicator signaled the presence of something in the air, he admitted he was mystified as to where the gas was coming from or what it might be.
Riverwood Apartments are owned by the Maco Corporation out of Crossville, Tennessee. The regional manager told NewsChannel5 he was cooperating fully with the investigation and offered to put any tenant up in a local hotel.
email: bfrazier@newschannel5.com
