Fumes Chase Hundreds of Youngsters From School : Emergencies: Officials suspect a lubricant that workers sprayed into the air-conditioning system caused the problem.

Crying, coughing and holding their aching heads, hundreds of children were evacuated from 13 classrooms at Liggett Street Elementary School on Friday morning after mysterious, foul-smelling fumes apparently invaded the school’s ventilation system.

Investigators from the Los Angeles Unified School District, city Fire Department and county hazardous materials unit were called to the school about 10:55 a.m. but found nothing unusual, school administrator Carmen Schroeder said.

Schroeder said school officials believe the fumes may have spread from a lubricant that maintenance workers sprayed into the school’s air-conditioning system. Two six-room clusters of classrooms, and another room downwind, were affected.

Second-grade teacher Rita Faretta, who complained of nausea, was taken to Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills, where she was treated and released, school officials and a hospital spokeswoman said.

Paramedics calmed and treated about three dozen first- through fourth-grade students on the school’s playground while anxious parents leaned against emergency barricades for more than an hour before their children were released to them.

The parents “were ready to rumble,” said Joy McKizzie, whose daughter, Jamila, is a third-grader at the school. The parents thought the police activity came from “a shooting or some type of an abduction situation,” she said.

McKizzie said she saw dozens of frightened children when she arrived at the school near her home.

“A lot of them appeared to be lethargic,” she said, describing the scene. “Their eyes were red. They were coughing and crying. . . . A lot of kids were crying and holding their heads. Some children were more affected than others. A pregnant teacher was nauseous and vomiting. She was very sick.”

McKizzie said her 8-year-old daughter, who is asthmatic, complained of shortness of breath, a scratchy throat and was coughing. “She was crying and scared,” she said.

Most of the children who complained of symptoms were sent home, Principal David J. Sanchez said. School officials notified parents by letter.