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Nov. 02--STERLING -- Buffalo Wild Wings, a popular Sterling restaurant, ordered an evacuation around 2 p.m Wednesday because of a suspected carbon dioxide leakage.
The restaurant opened a little more than an hour later.
The leak was traced to carbonation equipment for beer and soda, Sterling firefighters said. Restaurant workers told them that two employees were sick and vomiting, they said.
The restaurant, which opened in 2010, gave gift certificates to the evacuated customers. They also got free meals, said Ashley Harris, one of the restaurant's managers.
Firefighters and an ambulance arrived shortly after they were called. "You came to save us," an employee joked.
By that time, all of the customers had left, and the restaurant's doors were open to air out the building.
Sterling fire Capt. Gary Dettman said carbon dioxide displaces oxygen, and when that happens, people can become nauseous and dizzy.
Five employees were seen by medics; all declined to go to the hospital, Dettman said.
Harris said a specialist was called earlier in the day to look at the carbonation system. The specialist arrived around 2:30 p.m.
Harris said the specialist found the leak and the restaurant reopened. Next, Buffalo Wild Wings was to check its draft system, so as of late Wednesday afternoon, it wasn't serving beer, she said.
