Woman dies after being pulled from North Park fumigation tent
By Michelle Morgante
ASSOCIATED PRESS
3:54 p.m. March 9, 2005
SAN DIEGO – Homicide detectives were investigating the death of a woman heard screaming for help from inside a building that was being fumigated with gas used to kill termites.
Linda Williams, 37, died Monday at a San Diego hospital where she was taken after being pulled from the building, the San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office confirmed Wednesday.
Police said a fumigation crew had tented the three-story building in San Diego's North Park neighborhood Monday morning after walking through it to make sure it was empty. Gas had been pumped into the building for several hours when workers heard the screams.
D&S Fumigation of San Diego was using the gas Vikane, or sulfuryl fluoride, San Diego County Agriculture Commissioner Kathleen Thuner said. The gas can be fatal if inhaled. A message left for D&S Fumigation was not immediately returned Wednesday.
Residents of the condominium building had been advised to leave, homicide Lt. Mike Hurley said. Signs in English and Spanish were posted throughout the building.
The Medical Examiner's office said Williams was a resident of the building.
The cause of death was not immediately determined. Investigators said they would need at least six weeks to receive results of toxicology tests.
It was unclear whether Williams was in the building before the tent went up, Hurley said.
"It's possible that she could have snuck in after the tent was in place," he said.
Police were questioning a relative of Williams, her boyfriend and the fumigation workers to determine what went wrong.
State and local pest-control regulators also were investigating.
Find this article at:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20050309-1554-ca-fumigationdeath.html
By Michelle Morgante
ASSOCIATED PRESS
3:54 p.m. March 9, 2005
SAN DIEGO – Homicide detectives were investigating the death of a woman heard screaming for help from inside a building that was being fumigated with gas used to kill termites.
Linda Williams, 37, died Monday at a San Diego hospital where she was taken after being pulled from the building, the San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office confirmed Wednesday.
Police said a fumigation crew had tented the three-story building in San Diego's North Park neighborhood Monday morning after walking through it to make sure it was empty. Gas had been pumped into the building for several hours when workers heard the screams.
D&S Fumigation of San Diego was using the gas Vikane, or sulfuryl fluoride, San Diego County Agriculture Commissioner Kathleen Thuner said. The gas can be fatal if inhaled. A message left for D&S Fumigation was not immediately returned Wednesday.
Residents of the condominium building had been advised to leave, homicide Lt. Mike Hurley said. Signs in English and Spanish were posted throughout the building.
The Medical Examiner's office said Williams was a resident of the building.
The cause of death was not immediately determined. Investigators said they would need at least six weeks to receive results of toxicology tests.
It was unclear whether Williams was in the building before the tent went up, Hurley said.
"It's possible that she could have snuck in after the tent was in place," he said.
Police were questioning a relative of Williams, her boyfriend and the fumigation workers to determine what went wrong.
State and local pest-control regulators also were investigating.
Find this article at:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20050309-1554-ca-fumigationdeath.html