Wisconsin hockey player Michaela Johnson. (photo/WRN.com, Badgers Athletics)
The Lindenwood Ice Rink in St. Charles has reopened after more than 19 women’s hockey players were treated for carbon monoxide poisoning Friday night following Lindenwood’s 5-1 loss to Wisconsin. A high level of carbon monoxide is measured at a level of 10. The building was measured at a level of 200.
Officials originally believed the cause was malfunctioning humidifiers at the arena, but now believe the ice surface machine may have leaked carbon monoxide.
Wisconsin senior Michaela Johnson, the daughter of head coach Mark Johnson, was most affected by the carbon monoxide. She became ill during the game and was taken to an area hospital, where she was treated and released late Friday night. Because of the facilities condition at the time, Saturday’s second matchup between the two teams was cancelled.
On Monday, Lindenwood released a statement on their website:
“The St. Charles County Fire Department did a walk-through this morning (Monday Jan. 9) and gave us the go ahead to open. We have installed additional safeguards to prevent issues like this from occurring again in the future.”