OLYMPIA, Wash. — One of the students hospitalized due to a carbon monoxide leak at The Evergreen State College, told investigators that maintenance crews had said it was OK to return to her unit despite the sounding of a carbon monoxide alarm.
Within hours, the woman’s boyfriend, 21-year-old student Jonathan Rodriguez, died from carbon monoxide poisoning. The woman and a roommate were sent to the hospital.
The Washington State Patrol (WSP) conducted a three-month investigation into the deadly incident last December.
Investigators blamed a poorly installed tankless water heater and the fact that despite alarms repeatedly going off, campus maintenance crews failed to recognize there was a carbon monoxide leak.
Photographs obtained through a public records request by KING 5 show what investigators described as an exhaust pipe that was not fully connected to a vent leading outside.
The investigation found carbon monoxide alarms in the unit had gone off several times that day, but maintenance crews said the alarms were signaling an error in the system, not an actual leak.
So after the alarms were cleaned, the residents were allowed back into their unit.
One of the students told investigators she asked if it was safe to return to the housing complex.
”When the alarms first turned off, I wasn't sure, so [I said] ‘We're good? We're all good to go?’ And he said, 'Yeah, you should be all good. You're good to go,'” she said.
KING 5 is not identifying either of the injured students nor the staffers involved in the investigation until a charging decision has been made.
The state gave the investigation to the Thurston County Prosecutor's Office where prosecutors will determine if any criminal charges could be filed. A spokesperson said a charging decision could be made in the next two weeks.
The other student described to investigators her final memories before she passed out from the carbon monoxide exposure. She said she was dizzy.
”Just suddenly, I kind of fell to the floor in my bedroom, and because I was still feeling dizzy and I almost didn't really process that I fell, until I was trying to push myself back up,” said the student. She said the next thing she remembers is waking up at the hospital.
Both students were released later in the week.
Dr. John Carmichael, president of The Evergreen State College, said no students live in the modular units anymore. He said since the incident, whenever an alarm sounds in a living unit, campus police and the local fire department are notified.