Carbon monoxide poisoning led to death of Evergreen State College student
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – A three-month investigation has found that carbon monoxide poisoning led to the death of a 21-year-old student at Evergreen State College in December 2023.
The student, Jonathan Rodriguez, lived in an on-campus apartment that had a new tankless water heater installed on Dec. 4, 2023. A week later, he was found unresponsive with two other students who Washington State Patrol officials say were all exposed to the deadly gas.
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Rodriguez did not survive. The other students, aged 19 and 20, were both hospitalized.
According to the investigation, the carbon monoxide detectors began sounding an alarm on Dec. 11, but maintenance workers assumed it was due to a faulty alarm. WSP officials say the “mistaken assumption was one of several key contributors to this tragedy.”
Investigators found that gas levels outside the utility room where the heater was installed were enough to render someone unconscious within 10-15 minutes. The apartment where the students were found had levels that could make someone dizzy and convulsive within 20 minutes and even lead to death within an hour.
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“This was a tragic yet avoidable situation,” WSP Chief John R. Batiste said. “We urge everyone to make sure they have properly working smoke/fire and CO alarms in their homes and businesses and understand their operations and maintenance. When you hear the alarm, get out. Treat each event with the urgency it deserves. Lives depend on it.”
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