The commissary at RAF Lakenheath in England as seen Sept. 27, 2024. Base officials are urging shoppers to use the commissary at nearby RAF Mildenhall instead because of dangerous levels of carbon monoxide detected earlier this week in the freezer area. (Loretto Morris/Stars and Stripes)
Air Force officials at RAF Lakenheath in England are urging shoppers to avoid the base commissary and use the one at nearby RAF Mildenhall instead in the wake of excessive carbon monoxide levels recorded in the freezer area.
The Mildenhall commissary will be open Saturday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. as an exception to its regular schedule, base spokeswoman Maj. Hope Cronin said Friday.
The base is working on an official statement about the commissary problem that will lay out plans for a return to normal operations, Master Sgt. Perry Aston, a Lakenheath spokesman, said Friday.
A post Monday on the Air Force amn/nco/snco Facebook page showed a base internal message saying that carbon monoxide detectors went off in the commissary and that a 911 call had come in from an employee, who had a headache and was feeling faint.
Emergency crews recorded readings of between 750 and 1,000 parts per billion of volatile organic compounds coming from the freezers. The acceptable limit is 400 parts per billion, according to the message.
The message also said the commissary would be shut down until the gas emissions from the freezers were stopped and the premises were ventilated.
But comments in response to the Facebook post indicated that the commissary remained open, albeit with mostly inoperable freezers.
The freezer area of the commissary at RAF Lakenheath in England, is blocked off Sept. 27, 2024. The shelves are empty because food was removed after emergency crews earlier this week found dangerous levels of carbon monoxide emissions from the freezers. (Loretto Morris/Stars and Stripes)
Freezers stand mostly empty at the RAF Lakenheath, England, commissary on Sept. 27, 2024, after excessive carbon monoxide levels were discovered in the freezer area. (Loretto Morris/Stars and Stripes)
On Friday, a Stars and Stripes reporter visited and found rows of empty shelves in the freezers, which were blocked off. A small number of shoppers sought to make do with what was available.
As of Friday, there was no word from the base about the condition of the employee who called 911 or how much the freezer malfunctions were costing the commissary in spoiled food.
Typical symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning are like those of the flu and include headache, dizziness, upset stomach and vomiting, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Breathing in a lot of it can cause loss of consciousness or death.
