CONCRETE — The Cottage Cafe was evacuated Friday morning for about three hours after employees smelled the odor of burning plastic emanating from a room above the restaurant’s kitchen.

The fumes caused employees to feel lightheaded, and at least two vomited, Skagit County sheriff’s deputies said. All but one occupant of the units above the restaurant left the building, and no one in the apartments reported problems with a smell, investigators said.

Although one 911 caller described the smell as similar to that produced by a clandestine drug laboratory used to manufacture meth, deputies said that Skagit County drug task force investigators found no trace of a drug lab.

After the smell dissipated, the restaurant was given permission to re-open a few hours later, said Corrina Marote, an environmental health specialist with the Skagit County Health Department.

The exact source of the odor had not been found by Friday afternoon, Marote said. In addition to deputies and the health department, the county’s Department of Emergency Management also was called to investigate. The problem was reported at 9:30 a.m. Friday, and residents were allowed back in the building around 12:30 p.m., deputies said.