Source of 25 students’ illness at an O’Fallon school unsettled after conflicting reports

Ameren Illinois and O’Fallon public safety officials still haven’t reached consensus on what made at least 25 students sick during morning Mass in the gymnasium of St. Clare Catholic School Thursday.

But the school remained closed Friday as the likely sources — natural gas from a leaky kitchen appliance or carbon monoxide emissions from a furnace — are checked and repaired.

The school was evacuated and classes canceled for the day Thursday when two students fainted and 23 others required trips to local hospitals for treatment of “mild symptoms,” O’Fallon Director of Public Safety Kirk Brueggeman said through a release.

All of the students were treated and have been released from the hospitals, Brueggeman said Friday.

Multiple agencies responded to the scene to assist in the evacuation, notification of parents and transport of the sickened children for treatment. Ameren also responded and turned off the gas supply to the kitchen appliances.

But later in the day, Ameren and the O’Fallon Public Safety Department issued conflicting news releases on what caused the students to fall ill.

Brueggeman initially identified a loose gas line connection to an appliance in the kitchen and second leak in the boiler room. Ameren later sent a release to area media blaming carbon dioxide emissions from a rooftop furnace on the gym.

Fire Chief Brad White said the school was equipped with carbon monoxide detectors in both the gymnasium and boiler room and neither activated. The roof top furnace an Ameren employee theorized was leaking carbon monoxide was never turned off, he added.

“If this (furnace) unit was leaking CO (carbon dioxide), it would have continued to push the CO into the building,” according White, via an email. “Again, this would have either registered on our (OFD/Ameren) detectors or potentially activated the school’s CO alarm.”

Attempts to reach a representative of St. Clare at the school have been unsuccessful.

According to Ameren, people exposed to carbon monoxide may feel flu-like symptoms with headaches, nausea, dizziness, fatigue and loss of consciousness. Natural gas, while not toxic, can reduce oxygen intake in people and cause dizziness and fainting, according to healthline.com.

Both Brueggeman and a representative from Ameren expressed their gratitude to St. Clare staff and the responding agencies for the coordinated efforts to evacuate the building and relief that the students were not seriously harmed.

“We are very fortunate to have first responders throughout the area who respond at a moment’s notice when we need them,” Brueggeman said. “We would also like to commend the administration and staff at St Clare School for their professionalism and proficiency in handling an extremely stressful situation.”

Brian Bretsch, a spokesman for Ameren, said “At this point, we’re still trying to determine what caused the students to become sick and we’re very grateful that there are no serious illnesses or injuries.”

Emergency Medical Services from Abbott, MedStar, Millstadt, Rural Med, Mascoutah, New Baden and St. Clair County EMS assisted in transporting 18 of the students from the scene to local hospitals, according to the release. An additional seven of the children were taken to hospitals by their parents, Brueggeman said.