FOUR OVERCOME BY HEAT

Monday's heat invaded Alliance Blue Cross Blue Shield's new building, forcing four employees to the hospital and sending another 300 home for the day.

Firefighters and emergency medical technicians were called to the 7-month-old building on Siemers Drive about 1:30 p.m. Four Blue Cross employees were waiting for them in the main lobby, lethargic and overheated.

The Cape Girardeau Fire Department refused to release the names of the employees who went to the hospital.

Pat Lemons, Blue Cross site manager, said a cooling unit of the building's air conditioning had been down all day. The four women were training in a small, enclosed room when they became overheated.

Lemons said the air conditioning was on and circulating air but not cooling. She said fans were also circulating air in the room.

Lemons said she decided to send the four women to the hospital as a precaution. With workers just finishing repairs to the air conditioner, and temperatures still rising in the building, Lemons said the rest of the employees were sent home for the day.

She said the office would be open, and cooler, this morning.

Cape Girardeau Assistant Fire Chief Max Jauch said he thinks a number of factors led to the women's conditions. He said the heat and chemicals from new carpet could have combined to impair the women.

"You could still smell the carpet," Jauch said, adding he did not know specifically what part the carpet would have played.