Philadelphia School to Reopen After Fumes Caused Illness

October 11, 2012

An elementary school in Philadelphia is expected to reopen Wednesday, a day after exhaust fumes from a broken generator sickened more than 50 children.

School officials say dozens of students at Joseph H. Brown Elementary School in the city’s Holmesburg section started feeling sick around 9 a.m. Tuesday and the fire department was called. District spokesman Fernando Gallard says 53 were taken to hospitals for observation.

He says the students were later released.

Investigators later determined the cause of the fumes was a faulty backup generator that had been spilling exhaust into the school. The generator has been repaired.