Extended stay InTown Suites in Ross evacuated after pesticide exposure

Guests of the InTown Suites on McKnight Road in Ross were evacuated just before 9 a.m. Monday after being exposed to rat poison.

According to Greg Porter, executive director of Ross West View EMS, seven people were transported to area hospitals and six were treated at the scene.

Porter said one of the extended-stay hotel’s tenants reported to Passavant Hospital with respiratory issues. The hospital staff told police they believed that the tenants had come in contact with some kind of rat poison.

Ross Township police were called to the InTown Suites following reports of hotel guests with similar respiratory symptoms. EMS and Allegheny County hazmat personnel reported to the scene and determined the symptoms were caused by pesticide exposure.

Porter said the hotel hired Orkin Pest Control in an attempt to control the rat population. Bait traps were placed around the outside perimeter of the building. When the traps got wet from the rain, it created a gas called phosphine, which can be dangerous to humans if enough is ingested.

He said the gas was detected inside the building.

“When folks are exposed to that, they get eye irritation, shortness of breath and nausea and vomiting,” Porter said.

Pamela Hydress, a tenant of the InTown Suites since July, said one of her neighbors knocked on her door at 8 a.m. saying she was going to the hospital because she was sick. Hydress said she wasn’t surprised because a couple that lives in the building had gone to the hospital with their young daughter after experiencing similar symptoms. All three of them were treated after one parent started coughing up blood.

“I have my (sick) bag here with me because we’ve all been feeling nauseous, achy and waking up with headaches,” Hydress said. “We’ve all been doing that for the past week thinking that we were all coming down with something, but we’re not.”

She said she and the other tenants experiencing the worst of the symptoms live on one side of the building. InTown Suites had treated the area for rats the previous Monday. Hydress said the tenants weren’t notified of the treatment, but they began finding dead rats around the building’s parking lot.

“We moved out from our last apartment because they found black mold and had to gut it,” Hydress said. “There’s a lot of people who stay here who’ve already suffered tragedy and live here because it’s temporary housing. We don’t know what we’re going to do now.”

Guests who evacuated remained outside waiting until it was clear to go back inside. InTown Suites did not immediately respond when the Tribune-Review reached out for a statement.