Orleans hotel pool evacuated after guests report coughing and burning eyes

Ottawa firefighters responded to a hotel in Ottawa's east end on Tuesday after staff and guests reported a strong smell of chemicals stemming from a hotel pool.

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The Ottawa Fire Services hazmat team were called to a Quality Inn located at 3300 St. Joseph Boulevard in Orleans shortly after 8:40 p.m. when ten children, who had been in the pool area, reported coughing and complaining of burning eyes, a social media post by Ottawa Fire says.

Firefighters could smell a "strong odour" of chlorine upon entering the four-storey hotel. The pool had just recently undergone renovations and was recently opened.

The hazmat team checked the pool and they were determine to be normal, but chlorine levels in the hot tub were found to be high.

Paramedics were called to the scene and assessed the ten children. All had either minor or no complaints on assessment and none were taken to hospital, an Ottawa paramedics spokesperson said.

The pool area was closed for the remainder of the night, fire officials say, until chlorinating systems could be checked and repairs could be completed.

Fire crews used a high pressurized fan to ventilate the area and advised staff to keep the area ventilated until the systems were checked.