8 people released from hospital after carbon monoxide exposure on Provincetown fishing boat

It had already been a grueling week for first responders on the outer Cape, as the region struggled to recover from Monday's blizzard, and days without power or heat.

Then came a call Thursday evening near 6 p.m.: an unresponsive person on a fishing boat at MacMillan pier. Emergency services found that person, and a second crew member, on the Yankee Rose. They had passed out from apparent carbon monoxide exposure, officials said Friday.

Both people were transported to Cape Cod Hospital. And six others — three police officers, two EMTs and Harbormaster Pete Whinn — also were sent to the hospital to be evaluated for carbon monoxide exposure. The six officials were released home by Friday morning, according to Assistant Town Manager Dan Riviello.

The names of the crew members have not been released. But by midday Friday, Provincetown Town Manager Alex Morse said he'd been told that they, too, had been discharged from the hospital.

The Coast Guard is investigating. A spokesperson for the Coast Guard in Woods Hole, Lt. Quinn LeCain, said police found one member of the boat's crew in the vessel's fish hold and the other in the pilot house.

The incident comes after Monday's powerful storm left Provincetown entirely without power or heat, except for buildings with generators.  Public officials and first responders have scrambled for days to clear roads and debris and help residents in need with shelter and getting to warming stations.

Experts also had been warning people across the state to be wary of carbon monoxide exposure while trying to keep warm while the power was out.

Police said they enacted mass casualty incident protocols for the boat rescue Thursday night. With eight people affected, ambulances from nearby towns were called in for support.