BLUE ISLAND, Ill.— 22 students and 10 staff members were transported to hospitals after a chemical reaction released fumes throughout Paul Revere Intermediate School in Blue Island just before noon today.

District 130 Communications Coordinator Stephanie Fordice said the release appears to have originated in a first-floor custodian room after bleach was poured into a drain.

The school was evacuated after numerous complaints of shortness of breath and feeling lightheaded.

The Blue Island Fire Department categorizes those injured in "good condition."

Fear must have struck parents arriving to pick up their children at West Bainbridge Elementary School on Friday afternoon.  They arrived to see Bainbridge Public Safety Hazmat, Public Safety officers, EMS and Decatur County Fire and Rescue blocking the front door.

Hazmat Commander and Asst Fire Chief Doyle Welch tells us what happened, with scenes from the school.


What was originally thought to be a classroom mercury spill causing respiratory problems, turned out to be cleaning chemicals mixed when the spill was being cleaned.

A teacher, a custodian and a pre-K student were transported to the hospital with respiratory problems and headaches, but several hours later, appeared to be fine.  Asst. Fire Chief Welch told us that mixing some cleaning chemicals together can create toxic fumes.  He stated he worked with the Georgia State Poison Control Center and Memorial Hospital to ascertain the potential for harm in the chemicals used.

SAN DIEGO -- A janitor suffered a minor chemical burn Thursday when contents of a can of pepper spray he fished out of a trash can at a Hillcrest mall spewed onto him.
The 45-year-old maintenance man reported being doused on the hand by the caustic liquid at the Hillcrest Cinemas complex in the 3900 block of Fifth Avenue just before noon, according to the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department.
Medics washed the patch of the man's skin contacted by the chemical, then took him to a hospital for a precautionary evaluation, SDFRD spokesman Maurice Luque said.

COLD SPRINGS — An apparent malfunction in a gas line caused a flame to shoot nearly 30 feet into the air tonight behind Cold Springs High School.

Officials reported the flame did not cause damage in the area. A maintenance worker for the school shut off the gas. Firefighters from the Cold Springs and Bremen fire departments are at the scene with Cullman County HAZMAT workers to investigate the situation.

An officials reported that the malfunction was apparently related to an ignitor that connects to gas lines in an area behind the gym and parking lot behind the school.

TAHOE CITY, Calif. — A chemical reaction was the probable cause for a cloud of noxious vapors Thursday morning at Tahoe Lake Elementary School that eventually led to the school being shut down prior to students arriving to campus, officials confirmed.

The North Tahoe Fire Protection District received a call at 8:31 a.m. Thursday, said spokesman Dave Zaski, about possible smoke coming from the gymnasium at the school.

...
Out of the staff evacuated, 18 people were assessed on scene by responding paramedics; 17 of them were immediately released, while one employee — janitor Frank Godoy — was taken to Tahoe Forest Hospital in Truckee. Godoy was later released.

Steve Dickinson, assistant superintendent of finances, said Godoy had been mixing cleaning chemicals to scrub the gym floor when the chemicals caused the reaction.

Dickinson said the chemicals — which the district labeled as a releasing a “strong odor” and “visible fumes” — used by Godoy are unknown.

JEFFERSON - Jefferson High School was evacuated for a few hours Thursday after workers mixed chlorine and hydrochloric acid while trying to clean the school's pool, according to Jefferson School District Superintendent Michael Swartz.

The accident happened about 1:15 p.m. Thursday. Police say workers were trying to clean the pool, where an accident earlier this week hurt two people.

“The company that was cleaning the pool and the pool's maintenance area mixed chlorine with hydrochloric acid and that created a chlorine gas,” Swartz said. “It was an accident, but it happened. So, the chlorine gas then seeped into the building and we immediately evacuated the building as a precaution.”

OMAHA, NE - A hazmat scare forces a high school to close early Friday and cancel evening activities.

Investigators find mercury in three places at Burke High School; a drinking fountain and two bathrooms, and they say the dangerous metal came from a student.

Paramedics rushed ten students from the school to the hospital.

Officials tell KMTV Action 3 News that the students have since been treated and released but a very un-nerving end to the week.

After paramedics rush ten students to the hospital worried parents rush to the school to pick up their teens.

"I got the call and I ran," says Grandmother Kathi Zart.

Many parents and family members shocked to hear several students were exposed to mercury.

Omaha, NE - A chemical scare ended class early Friday at Burke High School. Omaha Public Schools spokesperson Luanne Nelson says a student brought Mercury to school in a fast food cup and poured it down the drain of a water fountain near the cafeteria.

10 students and seven teachers were possibly exposed to the chemical. The teachers refused medical treatment. The students were taken to the hospital for precautionary measures, but weren't exhibiting symptoms of Mercury in their system.

Those symptoms are similar to the flu: fever, nausea, and vomiting, according to the Poison Control Center.

The school was on a partial lock down, as Haz-Mat crews cleaned up the chemical in the building. Burke High School closed just after noon Friday.

A TEACHER was taken to hospital following a chemical leak at a school in Colchester.

Students and staff were evacuated from the science block at the Philip Morant School, in Rembrandt Way, after ammonia was found leaking from a refrigerator in a staff room.

Emergency services were called to the scene and set up a decontamination zone after two members of staff were overcome by fumes.

Two students created a scare at a middle school in Brooklyn by pouring a potentially dangerous chemical into the hands of unsuspecting classmates -- leading to a hazmat response that included cops and firefighters, officials disclosed yesterday.

Six students from Seth Low IS 96 in Bensonhurst were taken to Coney Island Hospital as a precaution.

Several others were taken to emergency rooms by their parents after Thursday's incident.

Officials said no one was seriously injured. In a letter sent to parents yesterday, principal Denise Sandra Levinsky reported that two students took a bottle of potassium bichromate from a science class and sprinkled some of the powder into the hands of other kids -- "at least two of whom then licked their hands."

NOT SMART: Brooklyn's Seth Low school drew hazmat teams after kids played with an unsafe powder.
The crystalline chemical is bright reddish orange in color and is used as an oxidizing agent and in pyrotechnics, explosives and matches.

EDINA, Minn. - Edina High School and Valley View Middle School were evacuated and closed Friday morning after a small chemical leak in a storage room at the high school.

Edina police and firefighters were called to the school at 6754 Valley View Road to assess the scene after a custodian came across the leak around 8 a.m. The custodian was treated for his exposure at the scene as a hazmat crew went to work cleaning up the chemicals.

Superintendent Ric Dressen said the schools would remain closed for the day.

The leak originated from a chemical neutralization tank used to hold and neutralize discarded chemicals from the school’s science labs. The tank had backed up and began leaking onto the high school floor. Test results showed that the chemical mixture had already been neutralized, and did not pose an immediate health threat.

The spill was cleaned up by noon, but the incident throws a small curveball in this weekend's homecoming plans at Edina High School. Friday night’s football game will go on as scheduled, but Saturday’s dance will be moved to a community center.

MARION -- Three students and an instructor were taken to Marion General Hospital and about 850 students were evacuated from Tri-Rivers Career Center after a can of insecticide broke open in a floral design class Tuesday afternoon.

Instructor Dave Woessner, a 30-year teacher, dropped a pressurized can of Duraplex TR at about 2 p.m. in a class of seven students, according to Marion County Sheriff Tim Bailey.

Woessner placed the can in a bag and summoned fellow instructor Brian Thomas into the room.

Thomas, who teaches the firefighting and first-responders class at the school, called director of academics Jodi Gaietto and Gaietto decided to evacuate the school.

Firefighters from First Consolidated Fire District arrived on the scene, along with crews from three fire departments.

A decontamination and shower area was set up behind the school as the floral students milled about behind the facility. The seven students that were in the class took showers on site and were issued safety suits while their clothes were collected, according to Bailey.

TAMPA - Students and staff at a Tampa high school had to be evacuated earlier this afternoon after a propane gas tank started leaking outside the school's cafeteria.

Firefighters responded around 12:30 to Hillsborugh High School, 5000 Central Avenue, after a valve on top of the cylinder began to leak. A small vapor cloud could be seen just above the leak.

Students and staff were safely evacuated to the football field and no one was hurt.

Hazmat crews were able to almost completely stop the gas flow, and  other responders used gas meters to check the inside of the school  for gas. None was found

San Diego — UPDATE 4:54 p.m. - Toler and Bay Park elementary schools were taken off lock down status at around 4:30 p.m.

UPDATE 4 p.m. - Mission Bay High School has been taken off lock down status and all students were sent home at about 3:25 p.m., said the San Diego Fire Department. Lock downs for Bay Park and Toler elementary schools are still in effect.

UPDATE 2:40 p.m. - About 140 students have been isolated and are being screened for mercury contamination at Mission Bay High School after officials found that they'd entered classrooms with dangerous levels of the substance.

Three San Diego schools were put on lockdown Friday after students were exposed to mercury during their morning school bus ride.

Four students and two teachers have been taken to hospital after a science experiment went wrong at a school in Melbourne’s north-east this afternoon.

The primary school class in Preston was conducting an experiment with a magnesium when the metal-based powder ignited and sent a fumes throughout the classroom about 1pm, paramedic team manager Stephen Moody said.

Advanced life support paramedics were called to the school and assessed 20 students who were in the classroom at the time.

Four boys, aged 12 and 13, and two teachers required hospital treatment for sore throats, coughing and chest tightness after inhaling fumes.

‘‘We were told a container of magnesium somehow ignited causing a large flash and a plume of magnesium smoke,’’ Mr Moody said.

Several children have been treated by paramedics at a school in Twickenham after 100 litres of chemicals were poured down a drain.

The youngsters had been attending a summer camp at St Catherine's School, Cross Deep, when the incident happened at about 1030 BST.

London Ambulance Service (LAS) said it had treated 26 children and adults showing "minor symptoms" from fumes.

All of the children who were treated were then taken to hospital.

A London Fire Brigade spokesman said it believed about 100 litres of sodium hypochlorite and sodium bisulphate were poured down a nearby drain.

ETNA TOWNSHIP -- Medics transported a janitor to an area hospital Tuesday after the janitor's floor cleaning supplies came in contact with another agent, creating a possible chemical reaction.

No other staff members or students were hurt in the incident at the high school, 8868 Watkins Road SW.

West Licking Joint Fire District received a call concerning a person feeling ill at around 9:50 a.m., fire Chief David Fulmer said.

When medics arrived at the scene, the janitor was having trouble breathing. Medics transported the janitor to an area hospital for precautionary reasons, Fulmer said.

Few other details were available early Tuesday, but Fulmer said the janitor was cleaning a floor in one of the school's hallways when the incident occurred. The janitor was using two regular cleaning products to mop the floor when the products "came in contact with an unknown (chemical), which caused the reaction," Fulmer said.

The Licking County Haz-Mat team responded to the high school, along with firefighters from West Licking. A Licking County Sheriff's Deputy closed the entrance to the high school on Watkins Road.

Other janitors, a handful of building administrators and some band students were inside the school when the incident happened. Firefighters evacuated them, in addition to students lifting weights in a nearby weight-lifting building. No other injuries were reported, Fulmer said.

Because of the extreme heat, the Haz-Mat team was proceeding slowly Tuesday. Team members donned heavy chemical-resistant suits before entering the high school to ascertain the cause of the chemical reaction.

Afterward, Fulmer said they intended to treat the chemical or air out the building.

Watkins Memorial likely will be closed for part of the early afternoon as the Haz-Mat team works, Fulmer said.

Earlier reports of Watkins Road closing as a result of the situation were in error.

The fire broke out in a science block at Kambrya College, Berwick, in Melbourne's southeast.

A specialist Hazmat unit was called to the scene due to concerns about chemicals in the portable classrooms.

...

CFA spokeswoman Andrea Brown said in the latest Berwick incident, callers initially reported explosions, believed to be from gas cylinders.

Fourteen trucks responded to the blaze after nearby residents raised the alarm about 9.45pm.

The fire affected six portables, four of which were destroyed.

"It was quite a significant fire, the first units saw plumes of smoke and large flames as they were mobile,'' Ms Brown said.

Fire examined the scene this morning..

Nearby resident Brett Wakeman said he raced out to the street when he heard fire trucks tearing down the street.

"There was some concern about LPG gas tank next to the building, they were directing the hoses onto that,'' he said.

"I heard on the loud speaker that they had called in the Hazmat team.

BROOKSVILLE - A leaking bottle of polish under a sink caused 12 Central High School ROTC students to get sick Friday.

One teacher also was taken to the hospital for heat exhaustion, firefighters said.

Hernando County Fire Rescue was called shortly before 10 a.m. for a suspicious gas leak, according to scanner reports.

Paramedics took the students to local hospitals after they complained of nausea and vomiting.

Normal school operations resumed an hour later after a HazMat unit determined the source of the leak and isolated the building, said Lt. Cinda Moore, a spokeswoman with the Hernando County Sheriff's Office.

The only chemicals known to be stored in the building are cleaning supplies, said Assistant Chief Frank DeFrancesco, a fire rescue spokesman.

"It was a container of polish with bleach in it and some of it leaked out under the sink," he said. "Whatever was residual there on the surface under the sink mixed with it and it caused a reaction. That's what we think happened."

Principal Joe Clifford said shortly before noon everything was back to normal at the school. Both he and Superintendent Bryan Blavatt were angry about initial media reports classifying it as a gas leak.

DICKINSON — A McAdams Junior High School student was accused of bottling a concoction of household cleaners that created an explosion in the school’s gym Tuesday, sheriff’s officials said.

Sheriff’s deputies monitoring the cafeteria about 2 p.m. heard a loud noise then saw smoke in the gym, Galveston County Sheriff’s Maj. Ray Tuttoilmondo said.

Christine Cervantes’ son, an eighth-grader at McAdams, felt the bleachers vibrate when the bottle exploded and said the noise was similar to a gunshot, she said.

Deputies found a plastic bottle filled with household cleaners and aluminum foil.

One of the substances was toilet cleaning fluid, Dickinson spokeswoman Tammy Dowdy said.

“It was not a bomb, despite what people thought,” Tuttoilmondo said.

“It was a chemical reaction of a combination of different household cleaners.”

The school nurse treated three students for minor chemical burns, but they did not need further medical treatment, Tuttoilmondo said.

The student was charged with arson and released to Galveston County juvenile authorities, Tuttoilmondo said.

HAMBURG TWP - Hamburg Police responded to a report of a chemical explosion shortly after 11 a.m. on Thursday at Lakeland Elementary School, 9501 Pettys Drive, in Hamburg Township. Preliminary reports indicate seven injuries at the K-4 school, which is part of the Pinckney Community Schools.
School officials said paramedics were called to Lakeland Elementary School as a precaution when a test tube broke during a chemistry day experiment in a fourth grade class.
He said a high school girl was demonstrating an experiment when a test tube burst, and the chemical spilled on the girl and some of the elementary students. According to one of the students in the class, the experimenter was mixing gummy bears with a chemical to make them "dance." All of the students involved were wearing proper goggles and safety garments, and the six fourth-graders and one high-school student suffered only minor abrasions and were treated on scene, according to Hamburg Police Chief, Steve Luciano.

School District officials said classes should resume to normal operations today at Harris Middle School, where more than 100 students were evacuated Tuesday when staff reported smelling chlorine.
The school's fine arts department, gymnasium and cafeteria had to be evacuated about 11 a.m. when four adults and two students became ill after inhaling the chemical's fumes, said district spokeswoman Deb Caldwell. They were treated at the school in the 5300 block of Knoll Creek Drive and didn't require hospitalization.
By 12:30 p.m., officials sealed the entrances to the affected areas and ventilated the building.
The San Antonio Fire Department hazardous materials unit tested the air quality inside the school and determined it to be safe.
The smell originated from a faulty chemical pump containing bleach, which is used in the school's air conditioning system, Caldwell said. About 1,300 students remained in unaffected classrooms for the rest of Tuesday, she said.

NORTH PLAINFIELD -- Eight students and teachers from East End Elementary School in North Plainfield were taken to the hospital today after chemical fumes spread through the second floor of the Oneida Avenue school, officials said.
None was considered seriously ill, borough Fire Chief William Eaton said.
The fumes were attributed to a chemical being used to unclog a drain on the second floor. Shortly after a teacher fell ill, officials evacuated the 475-student school as a precautionary measure. Students and teachers were taken to Hydewood Park Baptist Church two blocks away.
Shortly after the evacuation, a few more students and teachers began to feel ill, and ambulances from the borough rescue squad and Somerset Medical Center took eight people to the medical center as a precaution, Eaton said.

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- A high school coach fell ill Monday afternoon due to a chlorine leak at the school's campus.
According to HISD spokesperson Sarah Osbourne, early in the afternoon, a coach at Lamar High School who helps maintain the pool was having difficulty breathing due to a chlorine leak. HFD's HazMat team was called to the school and capped the leak.
The coach was taken to Methodist Hospital to be checked out. No other students or staff was affected by the leak. The pool is housed separately from the rest of the campus.

UNION CITY, Mich. (NEWSCHANNEL 3) – Emergency responders were sent to the Union City High School Tuesday.

Authorities say that they received a report that phosphorous was spilled at the school around 9:00 am.

Branch County dispatchers say that the spill was minor.

A HAZMAT team responded. Streets around the school were shut down so that crews could clean up the area.

Students were sent home early because of the incident.

Authorities at the school say that a chemistry teacher dropped a jar of yellow phosphorous while preparing for a class experiment. Yellow phosphorous is flammable when it is exposed to air.

Several students were in the room when the accident happened. No one was injured. The teacher was taken to a hospital to be checked out.

A 16-year-old male student is being detained in connection with a bottle bomb incident that injured a custodian at Souderton Area High School on Thursday, Franconia police said.
By this afternoon, however, officers were still putting together an exact list of the charges to be filed against the juvenile, Sgt. Jeff Gower said.
On Thursday at 12:30 p.m., a high school custodian was emptying a trash can in the school cafeteria when a plastic bottle exploded. There was no fire from the explosion, but there was a “loud, percussive noise,” according to police.

Two youths admit to making, exploding chemical bomb
Submitted by Robby Douglas on Wed, 03/17/2010 - 6:32pm.
Two Inverness youths, ages 15 and 16, are facing felony charges after allegedly making and exploding a chemical bomb on Tuesday.
No one was injured in the incident, which occurred in an area of Citrus High School and the adjacent primary school.
A witness told a Citrus County Sheriff's Office deputy that he was walking his children in the area between the two schools when he heard a loud bang. He also told the officer he realized that someone had used aluminum foil to place some type of chemical substance into a plastic drinking bottle, which caused the bottle to explode.
The witness told the deputy he saw one of the two boys duck around a corner at the high school. The witness questioned the youth, who admitted to placed the explosive on the ground near where the witness had been standing. A second youth appeared and also admitted to taking part in the explosion.

LHHS stays closed today
School remains shuttered after spray incident
Lake Havasu High School remained closed for a second day today after a student sprayed a banned pesticide on school walls and placed drops of the chemical in at least one trash can Wednesday, according to school and fire officials.
The odor from the chemical led school officials to at first believe it was a “stink bomb” in the J hall.
Devon Mills, a LHHS senior, said he showed up to school a little early Wednesday to finish homework and the “smell in the hallway was just awful.”

Fumes prompt school evacuation
WINCHESTER -- Firefighters evacuated a local beauty school Tuesday after chemical fumes filled a classroom and caused some students to feel lightheaded.
The Winchester Fire and Rescue Department received a call shortly after 1 p.m. for a report of an unknown odor inside International Beauty School, 808 Berryville Ave., according to Fire Marshal Gary Ganoe. A mixture of chemicals used as adhesives for nails started to emit strong odors in a room with approximately 50 students, Ganoe said.
"They didn't have enough ventilation for the chemicals they were using," Ganoe said.
Some students said they felt lightheaded but none fell ill or needed medical treatment as a result of the fumes, according to Ganoe.

CENTRAL POINT -- Central Point police are investigating a Wednesday morning explosion at Crater High School as a criminal incident and police say an arrest is pending.
"We're treating it as a criminal incident and investigating it as a crime," said Central Point Police Lt. Chuck Newell, adding anyone suspected of involvement "absolutely could face serious charges."
Several people, including students, will be interviewed to determine what information they have on the incident. Chemicals from the site of the explosion have been collected and are en route to a state crime lab for analysis, Newell said.
A school official and several students have told KTVL the incident appears to be a prank, but Newell said it's too soon to tell.

Chemical scare at primary school
2nd March 2010



Fire and Rescue officers leave Frenchville State School yesterday with a soft drink bottle containing chlorine mixed with a powder, which a student found on the oval.
MEGAN LEWIS Ml--
A SIX-YEAR-OLD North Rockhampton school student was yesterday taken to hospital after he found a bottle filled with chemicals on his school’s oval.
Fire and Rescue station officer Noel King said the boy opened the 600ml Coke bottle which contained a “cloudy liquid” and sniffed it.
It’s believed the substance inside was chlorine mixed with either flour or powder and had been left on the Frenchville State School oval at the weekend.
“It was likely left by kids mucking around or experimenting,” Mr King said.
“Chlorine mixed with flour or powder wouldn’t cause an explosive reaction.”
The bottle was sealed into a chemical drum by firefighters and taken for testing.

FIREFIGHTERS were called to a school in Clacton after a pupil sparked a chemical scare.
Emergency services rushed to Clacton County High after a schoolboy claimed he had put highly volatile zinc metal powder in his mouth.
The chemical is so dangerous that paramedics were barred from going onto the premises until the fire brigade had given it the all-clear.
Leading firefighter Dave Whattel described the substance as "very unstable" and liable to self-combust.
"The paramedics couldn't go in until we made the scene safe because their control told them it was a hazardous chemical," he said.
"We assessed the situation and dealt with it.
"If any of the chemical had been spilt we'd have had to wear chemical protection suits because it's that nasty."

A Two Students Hospitalized After Pepper Spray Release
WASHINGTON - D.C. police say a chemical was accidentally sprayed at a northwest Washington school.
D.C. fire department spokesman Pete Piringer says authorities found a small, personal-sized can of pepper spray in the high school building at The Lab School on Friday morning. He says a 15-year-old girl and a 17-year-old boy were hospitalized with minor injuries. Crews took another 27 students for a checkup.
D.C. police spokesman Lt. Nicholas Breul says a call first came in as a reported assault, but the investigation shows there was no assault. Breul says a chemical agent was accidentally discharged.
ABC 7 Talkback:

EASTLAKE, Ohio -- Three students were arrested Wednesday after a homemade bottle bomb exploded in a trash can at North High School in Eastlake.
The explosion happened as students were waiting for the first bell of the day to ring. They heard a loud noise in the cafeteria instead.
"We heard a loud noise like a popping sound that sounded like a bag popping or even a firecracker," Principal Jennifer Chauby said.
Chauby says the student took a plastic bottle and filled it with some cleaning agent and a piece of aluminum, which caused the reaction. Chauby says the trash can wasn't damaged, but there was a hole in the garbage bag. No one was injured.
Teachers ushered the 40 to 50 students who were in the cafeteria out of the area and called police.