14 Treated for Fumes at Dana Hills High
Mysterious fumes sent 14 Dana Hills High School staff members and students to hospitals Tuesday complaining of dizziness and a burning sensation in their lungs.
Orange County Fire Authority officials evacuated the 2,400- student campus for about 90 minutes then let classes resume when they couldn’t find the cause of the respiratory symptoms.
“When I got here, I could feel it in my lungs,” Capt. Al Downing said. “It was definitely not psychosomatic.”
School officials said a dozen staff members and administrators--including the school principal--and two students were taken to hospitals with what was described as minor respiratory ailments. Nearly all were treated and released by midday.
Those affected were in the school’s main office about 9 a.m. when they reported the symptoms. Pepper spray was originally suspected but ruled out when firefighters failed to find traces of any caustic substance.
“Our haz-mat [hazardous materials] teams got in there and checked with all their instruments and couldn’t find anything,” Battalion Chief Mike Ahumada said.
There were no previous signs of problems, said Daniel J. Crawford, assistant superintendent for the Capistrano Unified School District.
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