Odor may have been caused by cooked chilis
A mysterious odor that remains officially unconfirmed but sent more than a dozen people to area hospitals Monday evening was potentially caused by cooked chili peppers, according to the building manager and some residents.
Seven members of Cristina Yanez’s family, who live in the six-flat in the 1100 block of Ash Drive in Elgin, were home Monday afternoon when the smell got really bad. After trying to put a towel at the base of their apartment door in an attempt to keep the odor out of their unit, Yanez’s daughter called police. People were coughing and had sore throats, they were getting dizzy and experiencing nausea.
Yanez said her first thoughts were that the smell was coming from someone’s cooking but got worried when the odor caused so many physical effects.
Elgin police and fire departments arrived to clear the building and test for the cause of the odor. By the end of the evening, 15 people had been taken to area hospitals, including Yanez’s family, a police officer and two firefighters. Two emergency personnel experienced chest pains and another developed high blood pressure.
Residents were not allowed back in the building until it was tested by an air-quality remediation company Wednesday, which found nothing wrong in the building.
Though the official statement is that the cause was unknown, residents and the landlord alike are sticking to the pepper theory.
David Guo, the building manager, said the test will likely cost him about $1,500 for the inconclusive results.
But he was in good spirits Thursday, nonetheless.
“We thought it was a chemical but it’s good, it was only peppers,” Guo said.
Yanez and her family of nine stayed in a local hotel for two nights thanks to help from the Red Cross while they weren’t allowed back in the apartment. Other residents stayed at relatives’ and friends’ homes.
Elgin code officials took the red tag off the building Wednesday afternoon, allowing everyone to return.