FORT WORTH, Texas — You can’t beat word of mouth. Guanajuato is a popular bakery in Fort Worth.
"Yeah, it’s good stuff,” said Rober Shewmake, a customer who is also a nutritionist but says he indulges in sweets every once in a while. “All foods can fit. It’s just the portions that become the problem.”
“My sister told me about this place,” said Julio Hernandez, another Guanajuato customer celebrating his 22nd birthday.
It was a no-brainer where he was getting his birthday cake, but when he arrived, he said he was shocked at what he saw.
“I just saw a bunch of firefighters, a bunch of cops around. I wondered what was going on. They told me it was a gas leak, and it’s like, ‘Oh, s***,’” said Hernandez.
The bakery owner’s daughter, Keyla Orduno, told us the bakery opened at 6 a.m. Thursday as usual. After a couple of hours, people started getting sick.
Around 10:30 a.m., someone called 911. That’s when the Fort Worth Fire Department say crews arrived and noticed people showing carbon monoxide exposure symptoms.
“Crews arrived on scene. They found around, roughly well, 18 people patients that we started bringing outside of the structure and started treating on scene,” said Craig Trojacek, Fort Worth Fire Department Public Information Officer.
Trojacek said all 18 patients were employees. They were taken to the hospital by Ambus, a large ambulance truck. They were transported to the hospital as a precautionary measure to make sure they did not have carbon monoxide poison, officials say, and all 18 patients were alert, conscious, and expected to be okay.
“We were utilizing the ventilation system that was here inside the bakery to clean out the majority of the air inside the building. Then, we’re going back in with our own ventilation crews to make sure we can kind of catch those pockets, the closets, the bathrooms and things like that to make sure the air quality is where it needs to be,” said Trojacek.
Orduno said the bakery had issues with an oven on Wednesday, and a company came to fix it.
Fort Worth Fire said they can’t say for sure that’s what caused the leak.
“Today is the first time that we have been called out as a fire department to be called out to this accident and made aware of any issues going on,” said Trojacek.
He said they have been dealing with more of these calls lately, largely due to cold weather, so this incident is a reminder of what to do if you’re exposed to carbon monoxide.
“Those symptoms mirror a lot of the sicknesses that we’re all experiencing right now…any kind of shortness of breath, headaches, nausea,” said Trojacek. “Get fresh air outside. That really turns around those symptoms fairly quick. Don’t ever take for granted that that’s going to be good enough…Remove yourself first. Then, call 911.”
Trojacek said the food already made in the bakery is still okay to consume.
“You say it’s safe, so I’m going in,” said Shewmake.
He was still turned away as the bakery is temporarily closed, but this did not affect pre-orders scheduled for pickup on Thursday. Hernandez was still able to get his cake.
“I got lucky,” said Hernandez.
Fort Worth Fire said the cause of the exposure is still under investigation, and the health department will determine when the bakery can reopen.
The bakery said on Facebook it would operate normal hours on Friday.