Carbon Monoxide Leaks at School (Mullanphy Elementary school in St. Louis ) Building - No Detectors Were Installed 1-6-96

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CARBON MONOXIDE LEAKS AT SCHOOL BUILDING IS EVACUATED; 130 TAKEN TO

HOSPITALS

St. Louis Post-Dispatch

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For nearly a month, Priscilla 's two sons came home from school

mysteriously ill, suffering from headaches and nausea each day.

She found out why Friday afternoon, when her sons and more than 500 of their

classmates at Mullanphy elementary school in St. Louis were evacuated. More

than 130 were rushed to hospitals for treatment.

The cause: A malfunctioning damper in a heater was unleashing deadly carbon

monoxide that was circulating throughout the three-story school.

Carbon monoxide is a colorless, odorless and tasteless gas. It can kill you

if you breathe enough of it.

And fire department officials say some parts of the school probably were

getting enough of the gas to do just that.

" This was a potentially deadly situation, " said fire Capt. Ralph Break.

None of the children or 12 adults treated were seriously injured.

Although carbon monoxide detectors cost about $50, none was installed at the

school, 4221 Shaw Avenue near the Missouri Botanical Garden.

Schools in the city aren't required to use carbon monoxide detectors, Break

said.

Few - if any - schools in St. Louis County are required to have the

detectors, a survey of fire departments in the county found.

says she wants that fixed - right away.

" I will insist that they get one, " she said after she tracked down sons

, 8, and Levatis, 11, and determined they had no lasting effects.

At first, she was unable to find Levatis, who had been taken to Deaconess

hospital. When she finally found him, she broke down, crying.

More than 550 children attend Mullanphy. On Thursday, teachers heard some

children complaining of headaches and sickness, said Randle, a

fifth-grade teacher.

By noon Friday, dozens of students were getting visibly sick.

At first, some teachers thought it was a joke - that some students were

acting. But more became ill and the teachers realized something was amiss.

At 12:50 p.m., they called the fire department and the city's Emergency

Medical Service.

Within minutes, teachers and administrators led students in an orderly

evacuation. Children with symptoms were led to a church next door.

Students without symptoms were taken to Shaw's Garden and seated in the

auditorium.

During the next few hours, as frantic parents heard about the mishap and

hurried to the school, they were directed to Shaw's Garden. At a microphone

in the auditorium, teachers called out parents' names, and their sons and

daughters ran to join them.

Becker, 9, had been sitting in his fourth-grade class Friday morning

doing workbook assignments when the top of his head began to ache. Later,

during lunch, his chest and stomach started to hurt, too.

" I thought I was just having a bad day, then most of the other kids in

school started feeling bad, " he recalled.

's mother, , learned of the carbon monoxide leak on television

and rushed to the school.

So did Patsy Pate. She found her son, , 10, in an ambulance.

" Some kids were telling me that was throwing up and passing out - I

was crazy with worry, " said Pate.

Both and were treated at a hospital and released in good

shape Friday afternoon.

Authorities said the source of the leak was a damper in a heater installed

in 1993. The damper is supposed to shut off the gas supply, extinguishing

the flame in the heater.

But it didn't. The damper was shutting but failed to put out the flame,

Break said. There was nowhere for the exhaust fumes to go - except into the

building.

What made matters worse was that a second heater was sucking up the deadly

fumes and circulating them throughout the school, Break said.

Because of the children's symptoms, firefighters suspected right away that

carbon monoxide was to blame, Break said.

When they tested the fumes with a meter, they were shocked to find that the

levels of carbon monoxide " maxed out " the device.

Federal standards say that a worker can be exposed to a maximum of 35 parts

per million of carbon monoxide over the long term.

The level in the school exceeded the limit of the meter - 300 parts per

million, Break said.

City Fire Chief Neil Svetanics has been featured in a nationwide campaign

urging people to use carbon monoxide detectors.

On Friday, he ordered the school shut, until the heating system is repaired.

Chester Edmunds, a spokesman for the school district, said inspectors would

visit the school today. He expected it to reopen Monday.

*****

SYMPTOMS OF MONOXIDE POISONING

Carbon monoxide is an odorless gas that kills about 1,500 people a year

nationwide.

About 25 percent of those who think they are suffering from the flu are

suffering, instead, from the overexposure to carbon monoxide.

To prevent carbon monoxide poisoning, make sure your heating units are

maintained. You can buy a carbon monoxide detector with an audible alarm.

Here are some symptoms to look for:

Headaches, especially a " band " headache that seems to encircle your head.

Nausea and vomiting and other flu-like symptoms.

Your family gets sick all at once.

If you have symptoms, go outside; carbon monoxide dissipates in air.

If symptoms persist, see a doctor.

Copyright © 1996, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

D. Sorkin,; Mei-Ling Hopgood and; Reshma Memon Yaqub; Of the

Post-Dispatch Staff, CARBON MONOXIDE LEAKS AT SCHOOL BUILDING IS EVACUATED;

130 TAKEN TO HOSPITALS., St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 01-06-1996, pp 01A.