Fire officials in Newark evacuated a building in the city's East Ward after high levels of carbon monoxide was detected inside the facility early this morning.
According to preliminary reports, firefighters were called to the Forem Packaging facility located at 71 Joseph Street, just before 2:20 a.m., where crews found carbon levels around 80 parts per million of the silent killer gas.
Crews immediately evacuated about 70 staff members, who were working for ShopRite's parent company Wakefern, for about an hour before management confirmed that the building was safe for reluctant employees to resume work operations.
Newark Fire officials notified PSEG who arrived and conducted their investigation into what caused levels to elevate inside the facility.
According to published reports, Wakefern Food Corporation built the $65-million warehouse and distribution center in the city's East Ward several years ago that they say create 120 jobs and currently distribute food products to ShopRite supermarkets in the Northeast.
The distribution center was developed for Wakefern by Forem Facility Management.