Investigators: Multiple deficiencies found in Boone hotel pool heater

BOONE, N.C. — State and local investigators combed every inch of a Boone hotel after three people died inside the same room in less than two months.

Minutes after arriving Wednesday, inspectors from the North Carolina State Board of Licensing and an inspector from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission took photos of the pool area at the Best Western.

Police said inspectors focused much of their investigation on the equipment room and the pool heater that sits inside it.

In a press conference Wednesday evening, Boone police said preliminary results that found elevated levels of carbon monoxide originated from the pool water heater that is located in the pool mechanical room underneath Room 225.

Police Chief Dana Crawford said the exhaust systems for the pool heater had multiple deficiencies and corrosion.

IMAGES: State officials inspect Boone hotel after 3 recent deaths

Crawford said inspectors found several avenues of carbon monoxide into the room, including the wall-mounted HVAC unit that fed into an opening of a gas fireplace.

Police said the investigation to acquire a definitive answer will continue.

Investigators are urging anyone who stayed in Room 225 to call police at 828-268-6900 or email matt.stevens@townofboone.net.

The pool equipment room is directly below Room 225 where three people died, including Daryl and Shirley Jenkins in April and an 11-year-old boy from Rock Hill last weekend.

The fire chief told Channel 9 Wednesday why they did not test for carbon monoxide during the first two deaths in April.

"When we arrived on the scene, the room was warm. By the time we got into the room, we had opened the windows, the door was open and we were in there for an extended period of time, and we did not have the equipment on the scene," said Boone Fire Chief Jimmy Isaac.

Police said they requested the toxicology reports on the couple on May 31, but they had not received them at the time of Williams' death.

Isaac also said the motel did not have carbon monoxide detectors in the rooms because it is not required by the state.

It wasn't until this week that police learned the couple died from the poisonous gas.

On Wednesday, investigators first tested an air vent feet away from where they slept and where 11-year-old Jeffrey Williams died last weekend.

RAW VIDEO: State officials inspect Boone hotel vent

About an hour and a half later, firefighters climbed a ladder and waved a device with smoke coming from it near the heating and air unit for the room.

Investigators tested at the hotel for more than four hours.

Firefighters and police believe Williams' death could have been prevented if they got word from the state examiner about the couple's deaths earlier.

Williams' mother, Jeannie Williams, spent several days in a hospital.  Medical examiners are waiting on more tests to determine if carbon monoxide is responsible for the boy's death.

The hotel remains closed to guests.

WSOC