MACOMB TOWNSHIP, Mich. – Beck Centennial Elementary School in Macomb Township was evacuated Wednesday morning when more than 40 students believed to be sickened by a fog machine were taken to a hospital.
An official from Utica Community Schools said a group of 5th graders was practicing for a musical performance and they were using the fog machine. They started to feel sick, so the whole school was evacuated.
A school district spokesman said the students had become physically sick and nauseous. Superintendent Christine Johns said about 30 students were taken to the hospital as a precaution. Several ambulances responded.
A spokesperson with Henry Ford Hospital in Macomb County said doctors examined a total 42 students and one teacher from the school. Everyone was discharged by Wednesday evening.
"The students were transported just for safety precautions," said Johns. "They were all evaluated inside the school, then we just took them to the hospital for precautionary purposes."
Johns said the students taken to the hospital all are 5th graders. She said about 112 students were in the room with the fog machine.
"They were practicing for a performance tomorrow evening," she said.
Johns said she doesn't know if the school has used the fog machine before. The fire marshal was able to determine the fog machine was what caused the students' symptoms.
"It does not appear that any student is seriously ill," she said.
The rest of the students were taken to Eisenhower High School in Shelby Township, where they need to be picked up by parents.
Fire chief: Some students passed out
Macomb Township Fire Chief Robert Phillips said five students actually passed out but were alert by the time EMS arrived. Phillips said the fog machine smoke was being run through dry ice, which he said is an unusual way to run a fog machine. He said normally water or glycol is used. He uses a fog machine for training, he said.
Classes will not resume at Beck Centennial Elementary on Wednesday.
Beck Centennial Elementary is on Hayes Road just south of 25 Mile Road. About 400 students attend the school, said a district spokesman.
The superintendent said the school should open on Thursday.
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