Kegs Fall, Injure Sprecher Brewery Employee

At 4:05 p.m. Wednesday, North Shore Fire Department crews were called to Sprecher Brewery in Glendale to help an employee when several kegs fell on top of him.

The employee's injuries are not life-threatening, according to a press release from NSFD. However, while EMTs were tending to the injured employee, a carbon monoxide detector in the medical kit began to sound.

Crews monitored the air-quality levels and reported readings as high as 120 parts per million (ppm). Emergency crews put on breathing equipment and evacuated the brewery.

The building was ventilated, the report said, and no one complained of any symptoms associated with carbon monoxide poisoning. 

Crews determined the carbon monoxide was coming from the exhaust of a forklift, and Sprecher representatives were told to no longer drive the forklift inside the brewery.

"This call highlights the importance of having carbon monoxide detection both at home and at work," the release said.