Two landscapers, both men, reportedly were overcome by carbon monoxide—a colorless, odorless, and deadly gas—while trying to stay warm in a trailer in Township of Washington on the morning of Dec. 11.
Freelance photographer Boyd A. Loving’s shots at the scene show emergency activity centered on a trailer belonging to AJR Landscaping of Cresskill. A receptionist at the company told Pascack Press there was no one available to discuss the matter.
Police said one of the men, 26, from West New York, in Hudson County, was declared dead.
The emergency was called in over 911 at approximately 8 a.m. Both men were found on the ground, not breathing and unresponsive, at the Washington Pond condominium complex off Pascack Road and Linwood Avenue.
CPR was conducted on both before they were rushed to The Valley Hospital. Their identities and the survivor’s condition have not been released.
“It looks like they were huddled in the trailer with the motor running to keep warm while they were working on a lawnmower,” said Township of Washington Detective Heather Castronova.
OSHA responded, as did township first responders and the Bergen County Sheriff’s Bureau of Criminal Investigations, which collected evidence.
The National Weather Service reported a low temperature of 28 degrees Dec. 11.
Photo by Boyd A. Loving