By Cecily Barnes
A mysterious vapor that caused students to complain of eye and lung irritation emptied an English classroom at Saratoga High last Thursday morning.
However, the sheriff's department, fire department and Hazardous Materials Response Team were unable to track down hazardous fumes of any sort.
After assuring school officials that the classroom was safe, the experts got in their fire trucks, patrol cars and response vans and left, completely stumped as to what caused the irritation.
"It's just one of those unexplainable things," Sgt. Don Zies said.
"[But] whatever it was, it's gone," added Central Fire District Capt. Steve Stockman.
The Hazardous Materials Response Team used special equipment to test for flammable gas and carbon monoxide. And the sheriff's department eliminated the possibility that the irritant was pepper spray or mace.
"It's not that," assured Deputy José Payan. "Because [the students] didn't have burns on their face, eyes or lips."
After running tests, the safety team was still unable to determine what had caused the incident.
"It couldn't be in the air-handling systems, otherwise people would have smelt it in other classrooms," Stockman explained. "It's our feeling that maybe it was something that someone was carrying."The students had just returned to the classroom when they felt their eyes water, and their chests and throats tighten up.
"We went back to class from getting our pictures [taken] and we started coughing," explained 17-year-old Mason Chuang. "You couldn't really smell it but you got this tingling in your mouth and nose. Everyone just started running out of the room."
No one was taken to the hospital, and only one student expressed prolonged discomfort. His parents were contacted, but he recovered within 10 minutes and returned to class. The fire department has advised the students involved to watch for unusual symptoms.
The Hazardous Materials Response Team plans to check with one of their specialists about the incident, but the crew present was totally stumped.
"We're going to check with the hazardous material specialist downtown," said fire Capt. Bill Morrison, "[but] as far as we're concerned, it's released back to the school. Whatever they do with it now is up to them."
This article appeared in the Saratoga News, September 11, 1996.
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