Self-heating beef dish blamed for carbon monoxide scare

BARRINGTON, R.I. – A self-heating beef dinner from China is being blamed for a carbon monoxide scare at a Rhode Island boarding school.

The Barrington Fire Department says they responded to St. Andrews School around 6 p.m. Thursday after a carbon monoxide alarm went off.

Students were evacuated, and the source was traced to a dorm room. Investigators couldn’t figure out what caused it, since there were no gas or wood-burning elements in the building.

Then, the student mentioned his dinner: a beef “hotpot” his parents sent him from China, which included a self-heating packet to warm up the meal.

Fire Capt. Scott Carroll says a carbon monoxide meter registered extremely high levels of the gas when placed near the dish.

Carroll says the building was ventilated, and no students got sick.