Strong chilli fumes make residents sick

Photo / Hawke's Bay Today

A Victorian resident's penchant for chilli has caused 10 people to become sick, after the chilli fumes caused neighbours to suffer dizziness, nausea and coughing.

Paramedics were called to treat two men who were coughing and having difficulty breathing after inhaling fumes at Cranbourne in Melbourne's southeast on Tuesday.

The fumes spread, making other residents in the area sick and causing paramedics to door knock homes.

The Country Fire Authority worked to search for the source of the fumes.

"At one stage there was a large number of people standing in the street and we didn't know what had caused them to become ill," said intensive care paramedic David Llewelyn.

"We had up to 10 people who were coughing and were dizzy and nauseated.

"It affected houses up to 150 metres away due to the still air."

The source of the fumes was discovered in a nearby backyard where a resident had been drying out chillies.

"It emerged that someone was drying out strong chillies in the backyard and that's what caused the fumes."

- AAP