By James Gonser and Rod Ohira
Advertiser Staff Writer
Twenty-seven students and eight adults at Radford High were treated today for symptoms of exposure to an unidentified chemical, possibly pepper spray, in the school’s cafeteria. Principal Robert Stevens ordered the school closed at 11 a.m., but said it will reopen tomorrow.
“It’s nothing to do with mercury,” Honolulu Fire Department spokesman Capt. Richard Soo said, referring to the recent contamination of the nearby Pu‘uwai Momi public housing project.
Soo said eight of the Radford students were “washed down” and decontaminated and were to be taken to Tripler Army Medical Center. The students were treated and released.
Five cafeteria workers were also hospitalized.
The other 19 students were not washed down and did not complain of itchy throats or rashes, but they felt they were exposed to the chemical reaction. Those students were transported to Pali Momi or Kaiser, Soo said.
Because the incident centered in the cafeteria, all food is being disposed of.
The Fire Department’s Hazardous Materials Unit responded to Radford High on Salt Lake Boulevard at 8:35 a.m. to check out complaints of a chemical odor in the cafeteria. County Emergency Medical Services personnel also responded.
HazMat shut down the cafeteria and ordered air monitoring, but the cause of the contamination could not be determined. A decontamination line was set up outside the cafeteria for firefighters entering the cafeteria in full chemical gear.
“All of this is precautionary until we know what this is,” Soo said.
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