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Maine daycare didn’t have carbon monoxide detectors before poisoning sent 11 to hospital
"If a State Fire Marshall cannot tell the difference between these detectors, how can I be expected to? And shouldn’t they have been tested?" the daycare owner said to families.
The Maine daycare where 11 people were hospitalized due to carbon monoxide didn’t have any alarms to detect the odorless gas, which can be fatal, according to reports.
Crews responded to Building Blocks at 1 Route 236 in Kittery Feb. 12. There were 27 children and approximately 10 staff members at the daycare, according to the town, and seven were transported to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries. Four went to the hospital independently, the Portland Press Herald reported.
The Herald obtained a letter from the daycare owner Alaina Kelley to families dated Friday, which included the report from the state’s Fire Marshal’s Office. Kelley and the office both did not reply to a request for comment.
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In the letter, Kelley lists multiple violations from the report that “did not contribute to our emergency, except the one elephant in the room, and that is that we did not have carbon monoxide detectors.” Kelley also said the fire alarm was not inspected in 2024, which “is not my responsibility, but it was my responsibility to make sure that it was done, and I didn’t do that.”
The daycare owner, who also operates daycares in South Berwick and Eliot, said the Maine Department of Health and Human Services and the Fire Marshal’s office both inspected the daycare and cleared it for opening in 2023.
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Kelley said that, when she asked recently why her facility passed inspection, the Fire Marshal’s office said inspectors can’t tell the difference between a fire alarm and a fire alarm and monoxide detector combination, so “they are throwing me under the bus.”
“Well, if a State Fire Marshall cannot tell the difference between these detectors, how can I be expected to? And shouldn’t they have been tested?” Kelley wrote. “I trusted the Fire Marshal’s office to tell me that everything was code compliant. This is why we have their department.”
The state Fire Marshal’s Office said the carbon monoxide came from a propane-powered concrete saw that was running all day in an adjacent suite under construction, according to a Feb. 13 update. Those saws are not meant to be operated inside, the office said.
The gas likely entered the daycare through an HVAC system or above a suspended ceiling that had been removed during construction.
State Fire Marshal Shawn Esler said the child care providers acted quickly to evacuate the children, and they, along with fire responders, “helped prevent a tragedy.”
“It is important to note that daycare providers of the Building Blocks Learning Center recognized a problem and took action,” Esler said. “They evacuated children and staff to safety and notified the fire department as soon as they recognized something was wrong.”
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The daycare was also cited for other violations including a lack of fire extinguishers, storage in exit corridors, and a child safety doorknob on an egress door, according to Kelley’s letter shared by the Herald.
The daycare will reopen when Kelley submits a plan of action to the state Fire Marshal’s Office, her letter said, and families won’t be charged for the week.
“You trusted me to provide a safe place for your children to be cared for, and while I believed I was doing that, ultimately, I failed you and I am incredibly sorry,” she wrote. “I hold the safety and wellbeing of your child to the highest standard and would never intentionally jeopardize a child.”
Carbon monoxide is an odorless, colorless gas that can be fatal when breathed in, particularly when sleeping. According to the Center for Disease Control, symptoms, like headaches, nausea, and chest pain, can be “flu-like.”
The investigation remains ongoing, the fire marshal said.
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