JACKSONVILLE, Fla. --
Investigators still don't know exactly what chemicals at a McDonald's restaurant in south Georgia caused a Ponte Vedra woman's death and sent nine others to hospitals.
"On arrival, my crew started to enter the building," Pooler (Ga.) Fire Rescue Chief said. "They noticed an odd smell at the restroom where the patient was. They immediately backed out, put on their respiratory protection, went back in the building, found two patients that were unconscious in there."
Rescuers found 80-year-old Anne Felton and 56-year-old Carol Barry on the bathroom floor.
Felton, who lived in the Sawgrass Community in Ponte Vedra, died the next day at a hospital. Barry, who lives on Jacksonville's Southside, was taken to a hospital in critical condition, but now doctors say she's doing better and has been released.
Eight others, including three firefighters, also would be treated and released from Savannah area hospitals. Investigators said the 10 victims inhaled some sort of toxic fumes at the McDonald's restaurant, but they still don't know what those fumes were.
"It is very uncommon for us to have anybody who has actually succumbed to, had death from this," said Dr. Jay Schauben, of the Florida Poison Information Center in Jacksonville.
Schauben said it is, however, fairly common for people to accidentally mix two chemicals and make a very harmful gas. He said this appears to be a case of either very strong industrial-grade chemicals or just a very large amount of the common ones.
"Certain types of toxic inhalants can cause very rapid degradation in body functions, not only just breathing, but they can also interfere with metabolic processes," Schauben said.
Schauben said even the simplest chemicals that people have in their kitchen cabinets, such as bleach and ammonia, can be a deadly combination.
He said stepping outside and getting fresh air is often the best cure for those who are exposed to toxic fumes, but sometimes, as in this case at McDonald's, people should call 911 immediately.
"Clearly, if you walk into an environment and you start to see that your eyes, nose or mouth are burning, or you feel something starting to go on in your throat or in your respiratory tract, that would be a clue to get out relatively quickly," Schauben said.
The McDonald's has since been reopened. Investigators said it's safe, and they didn't find any traces of toxic fumes anywhere in the restaurant. They said now they are waiting on Felton's autopsy to determine her exact cause of death.
Fume Death Still Under Investigation
Copyright 2011 by News4Jax.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
