Carbon Monoxide Suspected In Lauderdale Deaths

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FT LAUDERDALE (CBSMiami) - A Ft. Lauderdale apartment building was evacuated Thursday morning after someone called 9-1-1 to report a suicide attempt.

"I came down and there were a thousand fire trucks  This doesn't happen around here," said resident Jack Mulligan.

When Ft. Lauderdale Fire Rescue arrived at the Sunrise Harbor Luxury Apartments, at 1010 Seminole Drive, they found a sign on a 15th floor unit's door which read said there was carbon monoxide inside.

"The first in crew made entrance into the apartment, found high levels of carbon monoxide and two victims and a dog," said fire Chief Timothy Heiser.

Firefighters immediately evacuated the building. Air monitors detected a high levels of carbon monoxide in the apartments adjacent to the one where the bodies were found. Lower levels of the deadly gas were detected on the rest of the floors.

Five people were treated at the scene for minor exposure to the gas.

Stuart Goffman, who lives in the building, said he rushed home to check on his dog when he heard what had happened.

"It's obviously very sad," said Gothman. "Thankfully one of my neighbors called me because we didn't know what was going on. I just wanted to pick up my dog and it's sad, very sad."

The fire department confirmed there were no natural gas lines going into the apartment.

Police aren't saying what was causing the carbon monoxide gas in the apartment or who may be responsible.