2,550 Evacuated as Young Players Fall Ill at Concert

Some 2,550 persons were evacuated from Santa Monica Civic Auditorium Thursday night after performers in a student concert started fainting or complaining of illness, but Santa Monica firefighters said they were unable to find any trace of toxic fumes.

Eighteen students, most of them girls, were taken to five area hospitals where doctors said none appeared to be in serious condition, doctors said.

It was the 40th annual Stairway of The Stars, produced by the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District. The concert featured 1,100 members of the district’s bands, choruses and orchestras from the 4th through 12th grades. Another 1,450 spectators were in the audience, district president Bob Holbrook said.

“Everyone left in an orderly manner,” Holbrook said, “but some of the children were pretty frightened.”

A spokesperson for the fire department, Cathy Weinstein, said, “Firefighters made two sweeeps of the auditorium with meters to measure toxic substances and found no evidence of physical cause.”

Earlier in the day at rehearsals,”about 12 girls fainted, but we just thought it was stress and hunger although some students complained of dizziness or nausea” and the students were released to go home until the performance, an unidentified school official said.

Some students complained that there had just “been a bad odor,” others complained of paint odors and other compared it with the smell of pesticides on the outside lawn. Some students complained of nausea, lightheadness or upset stomachs, paramedics said.

“Some of those who fainted were out cold,” Holbrook said.

Lee McNett, chief fire department paramedic, said, “There are several things that could have caused it. One of the things we have speculated on is mass hysteria.”

Rich Farmer, a photographer at the scene, said, “When I got there, there were just rows and rows of kids lying on stretchers. Some of them had their instruments beside them, but everyone seemed pretty calm. There were little girls in formals crying.”