'It wasn't me!'

Six residents of a southeast Houston halfway house were taken to the hospital this morning because of a sewer gas leak. Ugh. It happened in the 7600 block of Bellfort:

HFD Chief Tommy Dowdy said Sunday night there was report of a gas leak at the halfway house, so firefighters and Entex shut off the gas.

Then Monday morning, residents at the halfway house began to complain of dizziness and nausea.
When firefighters arrived on the scene, they found out it was sewer gas.

Officials said because the halfway house is half empty, those running the house shut of the water to some of the toilets and sinks. When that happens, it allows methane gas to come back up through the pipe.

Dowdy said the gas isn't harmful, but can be an irritant — and, we imagine, plenty nasty. Though only six people were taken to the hospital, emergency crews treated 15.