School Reopens After Students Pass Out from Fog Machine Vapors

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Several Macomb County elementary students were sickened and treated at an area hospital, and their entire school was evacuated when a fog machine emitted high concentrations of vapors during a rehearsal for a school musical Wednesday.

Utica Community Schools ordered an evacuation of Beck Centennial Elementary School about 10 a.m. Wednesday after 42 students and one teacher complained of symptoms that ranged from respiratory discomfort to nausea, headaches and burning, watery eyes.

Suzanne Schut, a spokeswoman for Henry Ford Macomb Hospital, told The Detroit News that some of the symptoms were treated with oxygen, “but most of it was more of a precautionary check.”

Macomb Township Fire Chief Robert Phillips told WDIV-TV that the fog machine was being run through dry ice, which he said is a deviation from standard practices, such as those used by his department for training practice. It’s more common to use glycol, he said.

The fog machine was set up improperly, and the students got a higher concentration of the vapors, Phillips told WJBK-TV. The vapors aren’t toxic, he said, but they’re what made the kids sick.

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There were 112 students in the room practicing for Thursday night’s concert when some of began to fell ill. Five of them passed out, WXYZ-TV reports.

One of the students who was taken to the hospital for treatment said students positioned on the top risers began feeling ill first. “We were just performing and singing and we saw someone faint,” she told WXYZ. “Then everyone got sick.”

Numerous ambulances responded and the students were treated at the scene before being transported to the hospital as a precautionary measure.

“We evaluated every single fifth grader that was in the auditorium,” Phillips told WJBK. “We started with those who didn’t feel well, reporting some sort of complaint.”

No one was hospitalized, and they’d all been sent home after three or four hours of observation and treatment.

The school was evacuated as a precaution, Utica Community Schools spokesman Tim McAvoy said. Students at the school were shuttled to a nearby facility until their parents could pick them up, and school did not reopen until Thursday morning.

Parent Candice Spitler, whose daughter was one of the students who were evacuated, praised school officials’ response.

“They did very well, kept everyone in order,” Spitler told WJBK. “Even though it was a slow process it was safety for our kids I’m very pleased with how they handled it.”

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Screenshot via WDIV-TV