Nowata County Jail, Sheriff's Office, Evacuated Due to Carbon Monoxide

Part of the building that houses the Nowata County Jail is back open this afternoon after carbon monoxide forced deputies to move 18 inmates out of the jail.

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The sheriff’s office said the courthouse part of the building and the dispatch area are both back open. The jail, however, won't reopen until OG&E comes out to inspect the area.

This all started Thursday night when an employee contacted the undersheriff about employees feeling sick and it turned out that there were high levels of Carbon Monoxide in the building.

The sheriff’s office says the fire department quickly evacuated the building and deputies made the decision to move all the inmates to the Washington County Jail with the help from several other departments.

News On 6 was told four employees who got sick had to be taken to a hospital to be checked out. The sheriff’s office says there were no carbon monoxide detectors in the building and right now deputies don't know how long it will take to reopen the jail but they did say none of the inmates got sick.

"As it stands right now, none of them have complained about any lingering effects ... we've offered whatever we need to do to make sure of that," said Undersheriff Mark Kirschner.

Since the sheriff’s office is back open, Nowata residents can go back to using the normal phone number for the sheriff’s office if they need help.