UWM Carbon Monoxide Leak: ‘I Had Been Forgotten About’

“I thought I was going to collapse.”

Anna Welter, a 19-year-old Film and Creative Writing double major and on-campus student worker, said she was the last student to leave the UW-Milwaukee Cambridge Commons dormitory following a carbon monoxide leak evacuation of 400 students at 10 p.m. Feb. 28.

Seventeen students, including Welter, were taken to hospitals for assessment or treatment for carbon monoxide exposure. All were released by the following morning. The remaining residents were transferred to RiverView dormitory until the Milwaukee Fire Department deemed Cambridge Commons safe to enter at 5 a.m. the following morning. 

“I probably stayed inside longer than I should have because I was waiting for approval to leave [from my boss] like I was trained to,” said Welter. “Approval came late because I had been forgotten about.”

Welter said she experienced a list of carbon monoxide symptoms like a migraine, nausea, dizziness, blurred vision and shortness of breath while inside Cambridge Commons, some ongoing a week prior. However, once the building was clear, she said she and two RAs were stationed on the sidewalk outside of the dormitory for three additional hours. 

“I think adrenaline kicked in, so I didn’t notice the symptoms until I left the street corner,” said Welter. 

Welter was working as a Cambridge Commons security “rove” on the night of the leak. She says a rove is an individual who responds to incidents within the building. It was her job to escort the UWM police to an alarm coming from an ice cream machine at the Cambridge Café, the dormitory’s dining hall. 

“The alarm wasn’t connected to our computers, so I had just started hearing it coming from somewhere on the first floor,” said Welter.

According to Welter, the ice cream machine alarm notified staff there was a heightened level of carbon monoxide, as there were no carbon monoxide detectors at Cambridge Commons before the leak.

In an email to UWM students, staff and faculty, Kelly Haag, vice chancellor for student affairs at UWM, explained why detectors were not installed prior.

“Under the commercial building code, residential buildings that are heated using steam, which includes Cambridge Commons, are not required to have carbon monoxide detectors in individual residential units or generally throughout the building,” said Haag.

Haag also said carbon monoxide detectors were not recommended for Cambridge Commons during the building’s annual fire inspections. Temporary carbon monoxide detectors have been installed throughout Cambridge Commons and other residence halls. She said the university is determining their long-term placement.

According to the UWM Report, the UWM police were called to Cambridge Commons shortly after the alarm started. They were responding to a welfare check requested by parents. 

The parents called campus police to check on their child’s roommate at Cambridge Commons; following their child’s admission to an area hospital for carbon monoxide poisoning. 

Around the same time, the university said students began complaining to front desk staff about headaches, dizziness and other symptoms.

UWM is providing $100 in compensation to students who had to evacuate, with additional payment to 14 students who had to relocate permanently due to pending repairs. 

According to Michelle Johnson, senior director of integrated marketing and communications at UWM, the university is currently in the process of having students and employees submit claims for medical costs. Students affected should complete the General Incident Report 300A2 form on https://uwm.edu/safety-health/forms/.