Gas buildup routs students at Community High School
(Eight infants in a Community High School nursery were among those evacuated)
Gas buildup routs students at Community High School
-MONDAY OCT 27-1980
By Roger Le Lievre
EDUCATION REPORTER
(Evacuated youngsters comforted as they await all-clear)
Community High School students were evacuated twice today because of a buildup of carbon monoxide in the building. Classes were back to normal by midmorning.
After a survey by Ann Arbor fire officials, the structure was given a clean bill of health and allowed to reopen.
About 300 students first left the building at 8:05 a.rru when carbon monoxide monitors on the third floor indicated an above-normal concentration of the gas. Among the evacuees were eight babies in the Student Parent Center.
School officials opened windows and doors to let in fresh air. The alarms stopped sounding at 8:20, so the students were let back in.
When fire officials arrived shortly thereafter, a precautionary evacuation was again ordered.
Students were back inside the structure by 8:45 a.m. School officials said a close watch would be kept on the carbon monoxide indicators, and in addition, fire officials would continue to monitor third floor and basement areas.
“When we began to open windows and doors, the problem seemed to take care of itself,” Elizabeth Gray, acting dean, explained.
“We’ve had a lot of problems this fall with the heating and boiler.. .it’s an old system and hard to regulate,” she said.
The carbon monoxide monitors were installed after a leak in October 1978 sent 96 students and staff to area hospitals. That incident was caused when a door was left ajar on an air circulation chamber near the boiler, allowing the poisonous gas to circulate through the building.