Fumes from roasting chilies make lifeguards ill By Pauline Repard UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER July 24, 2001 It wasn't "firehouse" chili that sent four San Diego lifeguards to the hospital briefly yesterday. "This was third-alarm lifeguard chili," quipped lifeguard Lt. Rick Wurts. Noxious fumes prompted the evacuation of lifeguards from their headquarters building and three-story tower on Quivira Court at 6:30 p.m. for half an hour. Four of the five guards on dispatch duty had trouble breathing and felt sick by the fumes, Wurts said. The four were taken to a hospital, examined and released. "We evacuated the whole building and donned our breathing apparatus, then went back in to check the tower and try to determine the source of the noxious fumes," Wurts said. "The best we could find out, it was the habaneros chilies roasting in the oven. We took them out, and the air cleared." Wurts said a lifeguard had put the extra-hot peppers into the oven to roast. The peppers didn't catch fire, but the heat released chemicals into the air that made some people ill. And actually, Wurts clarified, the chilies were destined for spaghetti sauce, not traditional chili. "I'm not eating it," the lieutenant vowed. Marilyn _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp