by OREN YANIV and BILL HUTCHINSON
Martial bliss turned into a toxic terror Sunday night when the bride and 41 guests were overcome by carbon monoxide fumes at a Queens wedding reception.
Potentially lethal levels of the clear, odorless gas seeped into the Dante Caterers hall in East Elmhurst, causing revelers to pass out, vomit and experience dizzy spells, witnesses said.
Just before newlyweds George Quenneville, 28, and Sharon Strack, 22, were to cut the wedding cake, the groom's mother, Patricia Wagner, collapsed.
"I came outside for a cigarette. Everybody was fine," said Quenneville, of Albertson, L.I. "All of a sudden my brother-in-law comes out saying, 'Your mother is down.'"
Firefighters arriving at the hall at 75-07 31st Ave. ordered the two-story building evacuated when high levels of carbon monoxide were detected. Deputy Fire Chief Mark Ferran said carbon monoxide levels inside the hall reached 500 parts per million. Levels of 100 parts per million are enough to prompt an evacuation, he said.
"We all went out orderly, but they told us to get out of the building fast," said Russell Sands, who was deejaying the event. "People started feeling lousy when they got outside."
The bride, wearing a tiara and a white gown, was among those fitted with oxygen masks and whisked to a hospital. The newlyweds' 4-year-old daughter was also treated. "My wife said, 'Oh, my god, it's our wedding and it's a catastrophe,'" said Quenneville. "I told her at least we were married."
It was unclear if the catering hall was equipped with carbon monoxide detectors, but guests said they heard no alarms.
"I had a bad headache for most of the time," said guest Melissa DaSilva, 23, who was treated with oxygen at the scene. "We all felt a little tipsy, but we didn't drink."
More than half of the 80 guests were taken to either Elmhurst Hospital Center or Mount Sinai Hospital of Queens for treatment. Two people were in serious condition, fire officials said.
Ferran said a gas boiler in the basement malfunctioned, sending carbon monoxide fumes throughout the building. Quenneville said he will demand a refund. Officials at the catering hall declined to comment.
Asked where he was going for his honeymoon, Quenneville quipped, "The hospital."
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