Three people are dead and 18 first responders were transported to the hospital after emergency personnel responded to a potential overdose in a New Mexico town Wednesday.
First responders entered a home in Mountainair, New Mexico, to find four people unresponsive, New Mexico State Police (NMSP) said in a Facebook post. Three of those victims passed away.
NMSP showed up at around 11 a.m. to assist the Torrance County Sheriff’s Office.
Eighteen responders experienced dizziness and nausea after entering the residence, prompting them to be hospitalized, police said. Two emergency personnel remain in serious condition due to the exposure and all those hospitalized are quarantined at the University of New Mexico Hospital (UNMH).
Peter Nieto, Mayor of Mountainair, said that incident is not airborne and pertains to a substance that was potentially transferred by human contact. He confirmed in a social media post that neither carbon monoxide nor natural gas were potential causes, citing Mountainair Public Works. He said that two of the three deceased were already dead upon arrival, with the third person later passing away.
“[All] indications are pointing toward narcotics as a possible factor,” Nieto said Wednesday, according to USA Today.
Nieto later announced that the town hall would be closed to help city officials and first responders rest and recover.
Police have not yet identified the substance but believe there is no public threat. “[T]he affected area remains limited to the residence,” NMSP’s post stated.
Mountainair EMS Chief Josh Lewis was the first to enter the home and remained in the hospital overnight for monitoring, according to Nieto.
Twenty-three people were decontaminated after the incident, reported The New York Times. UNMH told Nieto that none of its nurses were treated in relation to the situation.
The Daily Caller reached out to UNMH and NMSP but did not hear back as of publication. The City of Albuquerque directed the Caller to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which pointed the Caller to the NMSP.