KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- One minute, a local construction crew was hard at work. The next, they were close to death after nearly being poisoned by carbon monoxide Thursday afternoon.

Painter Nicholas Fitzpatrick said that at first he thought the construction workers from across the street on Northeast 111th Terrace in Kansas City were just hot.

By the time firefighters arrived, the two men were nauseous, red and out of breath.

Authorities said the men were shut inside the house in the Staley Hills subdivision doing drywall work when one of their machines pumped carbon monoxide fumes all around them.

The men were rushed to local hospitals. They are expected to recover.