LOCAL : Gas Leak Closes La Habra School
La Habra High School students got an unexpected holiday today after a maintenance worker failed to close a valve while changing a chlorine gas bottle on a swimming pool filter, causing toxic gas to seep onto the school grounds about 6:50 a.m., said a Fullerton Union School District spokesperson.
School was canceled and La Habra’s 1,580 students and 120 teachers, administrators and staff were sent home as they arrived for classes this morning. Nearby residents were not evacuated because the pool is in the middle of the campus, La Habra Fire Capt. Jack Johnson said. By the time the fumes reached the edge of the campus, Johnson said, the chlorine had dissipated and was no longer dangerous.
“We are very fortunate it happened a half-hour prior to the opening of school,” said La Habra High Principal Tom Triggs. Doug Bentley, a school maintenance worker, was overcome by the chlorine gas--routinely used instead of liquid chlorine in large swimming pools--and was treated at Friendly Hills Medical Center in La Habra and released, said La Habra police Capt. John Rees.
The school is expected to be open Tuesday.
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