The Middlebury Campus

Issue date: 2/10/05 Section: Local News

Media Credit: Denise Leung Following the incident at UVM, Middlebury College stepped up its effort to protect the students by installing carbon monoxide detectors in all the residence halls on campus. [Click to enlarge]

A Jan. 30 carbon monoxide leak in an apartment complex housing a number of University of Vermont (UVM) students has left one dead and six others injured. The Redstone Apartments at 500 S. Prospect St., in close proximity to the university, houses 200 residents, most of whom are UVM students. Building number three at the 11-building complex was the source of the leak, which erupted the night before the incident actually occurred. Carbon monoxide began to back up in the building after the gas-fired, hot-water boiler backfired and blew out a section of the ventilation pipe.

The causes of the boiler malfunction are still unknown and are currently under investigation. The apartment complex did not have any carbon monoxide detectors. Vermont law does not require them.

Jeffrey Rodliff, 23, of St. Johnsbury, died as a result of the leak. He was not a student, but was visiting the apartment building. Six others were affected and once medical assistance arrived at the scene, all were rushed to the Fletcher Allen Hospital in Burlington. All had to be transferred to other hospitals in Boston, Montreal and Syracuse because the facilities in Burlington did not offer the specialized oxygen treatment that was needed.

John Novarr, managing partner of Prospect Venture LLC, the company that owns the apartment complex, remarked to the Burlington Free Press in a phone interview that he "doesn't understand why it happened or what the cause of it was, but the only thing in the building that makes carbon monoxide is the boiler." He traveled to Burlington immediately following the incident to investigate.

UVM President Dan Fogel, in a statement released following the tragedy, said, "We will communicate with the property owner today and make clear our expectation that our students should not return to their apartments until every mechanical system in every building has been thoroughly and professionally inspected, and carbon monoxide detectors have been installed throughout the Redstone Apartment buildings."

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