More than 20 people were hospitalized last Thursday at the Wayne County Senior Center left nearly two dozen seniors feeling dizzy, weak and nauseous, officials said.Wayne County Judge Executive Scott Gehring described the incide nt as a "mass illness" event that prompted multiple 911 calls and the evacuation of the building."I'm at the senior citizens building. We have got two people that's in here and I, I think we need an ambulance," one caller told Wayne County emergency dispatch. "They act like they're about to pass out, and I don't know what's going on."Monticello Fire Chief Kody Ragan said the situation escalated quickly."You could tell that they were deteriorating pretty rapidly," Ragan said. "Two patients turned into four patients and four patients turned into eight patients."Among those affected was Bertie Poore, 72, who was sitting near an air conditioning vent in the front left corner of the building when she noticed a smell and became ill, according to her daughter Stephanie Lane."My mom hollered for one of the guy that calls the bingo, telling him that there was a problem with the smell and it was bad," Lane said. "A couple people started to get sick at my mom's table."Lane said her mother "was getting a little delirious" and was eventually transported to a Somerset hospital, where she was initially listed as a Jane Doe due to identification issues during the chaotic evacuation."I kept calling and looking around and trying to find her and eventually found out from her friend," Lane said. "The reason I haven't been able to find her around here is she had been taken to the hospital."The Lake Cumberland Area Development District, which oversees the center, is referring to the incident as a gas leak while the investigation continues. Ragan said the state fire marshal is investigating what made people sick but noted it doesn't appear to be carbon monoxide poisoning.Officials are examining whether a mixture of cleaning chemicals may have caused the illnesses, Ragan said.Poore was released from the hospital Tuesday evening but now requires a walker due to lung issues her daughter says were complicated by the incident.The fire department plans to work with the senior center to develop better evacuation procedures and identification processes, including possible name tags or lanyards, Ragan said."I mean, they got to have more systems in place," Lane said. "So when this stuff happens, they have a backup and it's not so chaotic."Wayne County Judge Executive Scott Gehring said Wednesday that the center was deemed safe and re-opened today. He said officials will release an official cause of the emergency as soon as the State Fire Marshal's Office notifies them.Leigh Searcy is committed to covering the stories that matter to you. If you have an idea, please reach out to Leigh at [email protected]. ...read more read less