Francis Horst Obituary, Death – On Tuesday, residents of an apartment complex located in Southwest Philadelphia were told to evacuate the building after the body of a man was discovered there and high levels of carbon monoxide were discovered inside the building. At approximately 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday, members of the Philadelphia Fire Department arrived at the building located on the 4700 block of Chester Avenue. Inside, they discovered the body of a man who was subsequently determined to be Francis Horst.
Horst, who was in his 60s at the time, worked at Gables Bed and Breakfast, a restaurant that was about a block away from his apartment. Horst had been working there for a long time. Cesar Gonzales, the proprietor of the restaurant, stated in an interview with NBC10 that he went to check on Horst when he didn’t show up to work on Tuesday and found him unresponsive inside of the apartment.
Gonzales explained, “When he didn’t show up at work, I called him several times.” [Case in point] “When I arrived at his apartment, I discovered him sitting frozen to death in his chair,” she said. “It was very chilly.” Carbon monoxide levels were found to be dangerously high inside the apartment complex by workers from a heating company. On Monday, tenants had also reported that they were experiencing feelings of sickness and nausea.
According to Charles Johnson, Deputy Chief of the Philadelphia Fire Department, “Once they checked the building, they had reading levels as high as 275 parts per million.” “There shouldn’t be any there.”
The authorities have not said whether or not they believe that carbon monoxide poisoning contributed to Horst’s death. According to Gonzales’ statements to NBC10, the victim suffered from both diabetes and a mental disability.
13 residents of the building were safely removed from the structure by the firefighters, and multiple agencies, including Philadelphia Gas Works and the Office of Emergency Management, were notified. They are carrying on with the investigation.
