Parents fear worst
as school is secured

They were kept out as fire
officials tried to determine what
sent 16 kids to the hospital

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By Nelson Daranciang
ndaranciang@starbulletin.com

Honolulu Fire Department officials suspect it was pepper spray or mace that caused skin, eye and throat irritation yesterday to 16 students and an adult at Makalapa Elementary School. But they are not sure because they could not find the source.

Both of the department's hazardous-materials teams decontaminated the students and the one educational assistant and sent them to area hospitals to have them examined by physicians.

"They were showered down; their clothing was removed; they were given disposable clothing. These are all safety precautions," said Capt. Richard Soo, Honolulu Fire Department spokesman.

Eleven children went by ambulance to Kapiolani Medical Center at Pali Momi, and five kids and the one adult went to Tripler Army Medical Center, where they were examined and released.

Principal Raymond Fujii believes the kids were exposed to the irritant before school, then started reporting to the school's health office about 8 a.m.

"I didn't realize the magnitude until we saw the numbers beginning to increase," he said.

School officials at first tried to find the source of the irritation but were unsuccessful. They did, however, determine that the affected children had been in the same spot outside Building D before the start of school.

Fujii believes the educational assistant -- a parent of one of the affected children -- was exposed to the irritant when she made physical contact with her daughter.

Fujii called the Fire Department at 9:09 a.m.

Firefighters confined the affected students and parent to the health office. Everybody else was evacuated to the school cafeteria.

"In the meantime our HAZMAT specialist went over and did air samples in the area of D Building. We could detect no problems. We sampled for flammable gas, carbon monoxide, as well as irritant gases. We found no detectable levels," Soo said.

School staff contacted the parents of the affected students.

Meanwhile, about five parents of children not affected who drove by the school and saw the fire engines and police stopped to see what was happening.

"I almost started crying right there, because my son and all these ambulances and everything, and then I saw the HAZMAT truck go by," said Carol Gray, whose 4-year-old son attends Makalapa.

Kapi Diaz was upset, but police did not allow her to enter the campus to be with her 6-year-old son.

"Nobody is telling us the names of the kids they're taking to the hospital. I would like to know," she said.

Her son was not one of them.

Fujii said school operations resumed after 11 a.m. The parents were allowed to enter at 11:24 a.m.

Cindy Edralin went to the school after her father called her to let her know something was happening at the school. Her father is a firefighter on one of the hazardous-materials teams.

She and the other parents who showed up at the school decided to take their kids home early.

"I'd rather be safe than sorry," she said pointing out that firefighters had not determined the cause or the source of the irritant.