A California motel has been closed after authorities found two women dead in the same room just days apart.

The Eureka police department in northern California said in a news release last Thursday that on 21 February, officers and Humboldt Bay fire personnel were dispatched to a motel on the 4000 block of Broadway Street in Eureka – identified by the Eureka Times-Standard as the Lamplighter Inn – after receiving a report of “two unconscious patients due to a possible drug overdose”.

Upon arrival, police said a 37-year-old woman was found deceased, and the other person was transported to a local hospital.

Several days later, on 26 February, police said that officers were again dispatched to the same motel following another report of “two individuals unconscious” in “the same room as the call from February 21, from a suspected drug overdose”.

A 36-year-old woman was found deceased, authorities said, while the other person was found in critical condition and was transported to a local hospital.

The authorities said in the news release that during the second incident, Humboldt Bay fire personnel on scene “displayed signs of mild carbon monoxide exposure”.

Authorities said atmospheric monitoring inside the room revealed “elevated levels of carbon monoxide in the room”. The police said “no carbon monoxide detectors were located in the room.”

Fire officers, detectives, evidence technicians and Pacific Gas & Electric Company reported to the scene, per the news release, and occupants of the motel were evacuated while it was ventilated.

The police said that the chief building official, Humboldt Bay fire chief, and the fire marshall determined that the motel should not be occupied “until mechanical inspections of each room were completed and additional fire code violations are remedied”.

“The city of Eureka building official served the business owner with a first and final notice requiring the location to be closed until identified violations are remedied and inspected,” the news release says.

According to a letter obtained by northern California’s Local Coast Outpost, the motel was shut down on 3 March and will remain closed until the hearing and ventilation systems in every room is “inspected and certified as safe”.

“All equipment must be confirmed to be in proper working condition before occupancy is allowed or utilities are restored,” the letter from the city reads. “Additionally, you must ensure that each room is equipped with fully functioning carbon monoxide detectors, all of which must be in good working order.”

The police news release says that the Humboldt county sheriff coroner’s office was contacted and the “advised cause of death for both descendants is listed as pending investigation”.

The names of the decedents are being withheld until notification of next of kin can be verified, authorities said, adding that this is an “ongoing active, multi-agency investigation”.