Backed-up Ignacio sewer line believed to be cause of problem
An Ignacio Junior High School student sits in the back of an ambulance Monday waiting to be taken to Mercy Regional Medical Center. Noxious odors forced the evacuation of the school and sent more than 25 students to the hospital with nonlife-threatening injuries.
SHAUN STANLEY/Durango Herald
An Ignacio Junior High School student on oxygen awaits for transportation to Mercy Regional Medical Center after noxious odors forced the evacuation of the school. The odors were blamed on a backup in a sewer line.
SHAUN STANLEY/Durango Herald
Ignacio Junior High School students are led to waiting ambulances to be transported to Mercy Regional Medical Center after suffering from headaches and nausea after a gas leak. Testing showed gas levels were well below the threshold of being potentially explosive, said a fire official on scene.
SHAUN STANLEY/Durango Herald
A Ignacio Junior High School student seats in the back of an ambulance Monday awaiting transportation to Mercy Medical Center after noxious odors thought to be gas from a sewer forced the evacuation of the school and sent over 25 students to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries. Photo by Shaun Stanley/Durango Herald.
Ignacio Junior High School English teacher Kathy Herrera, left, walks past ambulances lined up in front of the school to transport students effected by a noxious gas leak. Students left a Science class shortly after 11 am Monday and started feeling ill as they arrived in Herrera's class. Photo by Shaun Stanley/Durango Herald.<br>
A Los Pinos Firefigher/ Paramedic heads towards the drivers seat of his ambulance to transport Ignacio Junior High School students effected by a noxious gas leak Monday thought to be gas from a sewer that forced the evacuation of the school and sent students to the hospital. Photo by Shaun Stanley/Durango Herald.<br>
Ignacio Junior High School students gather outside of the school Monday after a gas leak forced the evacuation of the facility. Photo by Shaun Stanley/Durango Herald.<br>
Ignacio Junior High School administrators are joined by law enforcement and rescue personnel in the parking lot of the school as students are transported to Mercy Medical Center after noxious odors thought to be gas from a sewer forced the evacuation of the school and sent numerous students to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries. Photo by Shaun Stanley/Durango Herald.<br>
Ignacio Junior High School students are lead to waiting ambulances to be transported to Mercy Medical Center after noxious odors thought to be gas from a sewer forced the evacuation of the school and sent over 25 students to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries. Photo by Shaun Stanley/Durango Herald.<br>
An Ignacio Junior High School student on oxygen awaits for transportation to Mercy Medical Center after noxious odors thought to be gas from a sewer forced the evacuation of the school and sen over 25 students to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries. Photo by Shaun Stanley/Durango Herald.<br>
Ignacio School District Superintendent Rocco Fushetto, left, leads students of Junior High School effected by a gas leak Monday to awaiting ambulances to be transported to area medical facilities for evaluation. Photo by Shaun Stanley/Durango Herald.<br>
Ignacio Junior High School students await transportation to medical facilities Monday after they suffered effects of a gas leak that forced the evacuation of the facility. Photo by Shaun Stanley/Durango Herald.<br>
IGNACIO – Thirty Ignacio Junior High students suffering from headaches or nausea were taken to local hospitals Monday morning after a backed up sewer line caused nonexplosive but overwhelmingly pungent gases to flow into an eighth-grade science classroom.
Authorities were alerted by the school at 11:27 a.m. and multiple agencies responded, including the Upper Pine River Fire Protection District, Los Pinos Fire Protection District and Durango Fire & Rescue Authority.
Testing showed that gas levels were well below the threshold of being potentially explosive, said Tom Aurnhammer, deputy chief of Los Pinos Fire Protection District. Gas lines that feed Bunsen burners in the room were turned off as well.
The students were transported to Mercy Regional Medical Center and Animas Surgical Hospital.
By early evening, all 20 students who had been taken to Mercy Regional Medical Center had been treated and released, Mercy spokesman David Bruzzese said, adding that none of the students had been admitted.
All of the students who were transported to Animas Surgical Hospital were released to their parents within a few hours, said Peggy Patterson, the hospital’s director of quality. The students arrived with complaints of nausea, vomiting and headaches, Patterson said.
Upon hearing news of a potential gas leak, staff evacuated the junior high school, but students returned to their classes after lunch.
School officials originally suspected the noxious gases emanated from the contents of a sediment-collection tank located beneath the classroom, but further inspection showed the sewer line was at fault, Ignacio School District Superintendent Rocco Fuschetto said. The sewer line backed up into the science classroom, causing noxious odors to flow up through the sink and floor drains, Fuschetto said.
The sewer line infrastructure was likely installed in 1998 as part of an addition to the junior high school.
The teacher in the classroom, Joseph Duffy, said he was aware the room had some drainage issues. On Monday, the stench got to a point where it was a little worse than normal, Duffy said. He took the students outside and turned on the fan in the classroom, which seemed to help.
About half of the students in Duffy’s science class then went to English teacher Kathy Herrera’s class where several started complaining about headaches and nausea, Herrera said.
They mentioned the smell of gas in the science classroom, which spurred Herrera to notify school officials of a potential health issue. In all her years teaching, she hasn’t had an experience like this one.
“It’s a first I don’t want to repeat,” she said.
Herald Staff Writer Ann Butler contributed to this report. ecowan@durangoherald.com
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