Chemical odor shuts Kahala Elementary
COURTESY MATHEW URSUA
First responders with the Honolulu Fire Department and Emergency Medical Services arrived at Kahala Elementary School around 9:30 a.m. today after receiving calls about a noxious chemical odor.
RADLEY KANDA / RKANDA@STARADVERTISER.COM
Fire Capt. David Jenkins said Kahala Elementary School students and faculty were instructed to shelter in place in climate-controlled classrooms while fire crews investigated.
Kahala Elementary School was closed today due to complaints of a strong chemical odor on the East Oahu campus.
The school began contacting parents to pick up their children around 11 a.m.
First responders with the Honolulu Fire Department and Emergency Medical Services arrived at the campus around 9:30 a.m. after receiving calls about a noxious chemical odor.
Initially 20 patients were assessed at the school, including 17 students and three adults, according to EMS spokeswoman Shane Enright. She said symptoms included complaints of headaches, nausea and dizziness.
No patients had to be transported to hospitals for further treatment. “Fortunately, the severity of the symptoms was not very serious,” Enright said.
Fire Capt. David Jenkins said students and faculty were instructed to shelter in place in climate-controlled classrooms while fire crews investigated.
Jenkins said the odor has been traced to a demolished residential site upwind of the school. The Department of Health’s hazardous waste branch has been called in to assist.
