Bartlesville Radio: The area’s best source for news, weather and sports!

Several Nowata County officials are still searching for answers after a scary situation involving high carbon monoxide levels in the county jail that was discovered last Thursday. The source of the gas has yet to be discovered at this time.

Sheriff Terry Sue Barnett says that three members of the jail staff were diagnosed with carbon monoxide poisoning. Barnett says it is unsafe for anyone to be in the jail building with source of the gas still undetermined.

Right now 18 inmates are being held in the Washington County Jail. An agreement was put before the Washington County Commissioners to continue to keep the inmates in that facility. Barnett stated that returning the inmates to the jail is not a solution at this point in time.

Firefighters detected carbon monoxide on the site Thursday night. District three commissioners Troy Friddle was unaware of any issues until the meeting. Friddle cited his past experience in the gas industry, stating that source of the problem needs to be investigated further.

Chairman Doug Sonenberg and Commissioner Burke Larue were on the scene the night the incident was discovered. Larue was thankful for all of the people that offered help during the situation.

Solutions for the problem will continue to be discussed at future meetings of the Commissioners. We will have more coverage of the ongoing issues at the Nowata County Jail.