A noxious odor and a subsequent car fire are suspected of sickening 22 children and three teachers at a parochial school in 'Ewa Beach yesterday, sending them briefly to a hospital.

All of the patients from Our Lady of Perpetual Help School were released from St. Francis Medical Center-West by 6 p.m., hospital spokeswoman Cheryl Tamura said.

Meanwhile, fumes in an 'Aiea supermarket prompted an evacuation there yesterday afternoon, but no one sought medical treatment, officials said. The store was reopened after about two hours.

Fire department spokesman Capt. Kenison Tejada said it was not immediately known what caused those at Our Lady of Perpetual Help to feel ill. At about 10 a.m. firefighters received a call that people at the school, on North Road next to Campbell High School, were reporting a "propane-like" smell, Tejada said. School officials moved the children into the church.

Then at 12:40 p.m. an engine fire broke out in a van parked in the school's parking lot and soon children started telling teachers they felt sick. A city bus was called to take them to St. Francis Medical Center-West.

"They're real stable," said Bryan Cheplic, spokesman for the Honolulu Emergency Services Department. "The symptoms include minor stomachaches, watery eyes, being nauseated, dizziness and shortness of breath."

Five of the patients were preschoolers 3 to 5 years old. The rest were 10- and 12-year-old children, Cheplic said.

None were seriously injured. Some children were taken home by their parents less than an hour after their arrival at the hospital, Tamura said.

The fire department's hazmat crew was called out again at about 4 p.m. when employees at Times Super Market in 'Aiea Shopping Center reported a mysterious haze in the store. Some employees complained of itchy throats and eyes, as well as headaches, and the store's manager called the fire department.

About 20 employees and an unknown number of customers were evacuated from the store. An ambulance was dispatched, but no one required treatment, said fire Battalion Chief Paul Loughran.

Loughran said the mist was R2 refrigerant that was leaking from the store's air conditioning system. He said the refrigerant displaces oxygen, but poses no immediate hazard to people.

But, Loughran said, the workers apparently had been exposed to the R2 for about 45 minutes.

"It was kind of misty so they thought maybe there was some sort of (electrical) short or something at first. But there was no odor of smoke, so they became more and more concerned as time went on and some of them had light headaches, which is again the oxygen displacement in the air," he said.

Large fans were brought in to air out the store and fire officials recommended that the store remain closed for the day as a precaution. But Thomas Reyno, Times store director, said the store would reopen once the fire department cleared the store.

At about 6 p.m., the employees returned to the store, which reopened about 20 minutes later.

Reach Peter Boylan at pboylan@honoluluadvertiser.com and Curtis Lum at culum@honoluluadvertiser.com.