On Friday, August 17, 2007 at 1:41 PM, 2 Companies of Los Angeles Firefighters, 2 LAFD Rescue Ambulances, 1 EMS Battalion Captain and 1 Battalion Chief Officer Command Team, a total of 17 Los Angeles Fire Department personnel under the direction of Battalion Chief John Vidovich, responded to a Multi-Patient Chemical Investigation at 152 North Vermont Avenue in mid-town Los Angeles.

Summoned by School Police, Los Angeles Firefighters arrived quickly at the gymnasium of Virgil Middle School, where they discovered 23 students who had self-evacuated the building.

According to witnesses, two dozen students had been decorating inside the gymnasium for an upcoming dance, when one boy suddenly discharged an aerosol canister in close proximity to the other students.

The effected boys and girls, all ambulatory and in mild distress with respiratory and eye irritation, were promptly moved to a well-ventilated triage area north of the gymnasium, where their complaints largely subsided.

Firefighters continued their medical assessment, emotional reassurance and medical treatment of the group while conferring with school officials, who were unable to identify the youth and therefore the exact substance involved or reason for its discharge.

A cursory evaluation of the gymnasium by LAFD personnel identified no escalating hazard or evidence of an irritant, and the facility was returned to the control of school officials.

Of the 23 students triaged, seven mildly symptomatic girls ages 12 through 13 were transported to Children's Hospital of Los Angeles in good condition.

While witnesses believe the aerosol to have been some manner of household product, the substance was not positively identified by Fire Department personnel.

The Los Angeles School Police Department will be handling the investigation.


Submitted by Brian Humphrey, Spokesman
Los Angeles Fire Department