Nearly 70 tenants of an apartment building on 225th Street were evacuated Wednesday morning after high levels of carbon monoxide were detected.

In addition to the occupants of the building, two stores located on White Plains Road were also evacuated as a precaution. Firefighters monitored CO levels at other nearby buildings, including a nursing home, which were not evacuated.

Fire officials say the dangerous CO levels were caused by burning cables underneath 225th Street.

?Our units determined very quickly that there was a heavy buildup of carbon monoxide in the basement of the building itself,? says Deputy Fire Chief Thomas Dunne.

Tenants who were forced out of their apartments into the cold morning air took refuge inside a parked city bus before returning to their homes Wednesday afternoon. EMS workers who were on the scene say no illnesses related to the high CO levels were reported.