Owings Mills special needs school evacuated, two hospitalized after carbon monoxide leak

Feb. 25-- Feb. 25--Baltimore County Fire Department crews responded to a carbon monoxide leak in a private special needs school in Owings Mills on Monday morning, a fire department spokeswoman said.

A call went out at 11:17 a.m. to the Shafer Center, a school for children with autism and other developmental conditions, in the 11500 block of Cronridge Drive, spokeswoman Elise Armacost said.

About 60 children and adults were evacuated from the building, according to a fire department news release. Two adults were taken to hospitals with non-life-threatening symptoms.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, carbon monoxide is an odorless, colorless gas created by fuel combustion that can kill at elevated levels. Symptoms of carbon monoxide include headache, dizziness, weakness, upset stomach, vomiting, chest pain and confusion.

"Observations from Fire personnel indicate a problem with the heating system," the county news release said of the incident at the Shafer Center.

Carbon monoxide levels dropped after firefighters ventilated the building, but children and staff will not be let into the building today, the release said. They are being housed at the Maryland Vehicle Emissions Inspection Program station next door and parents are in the process of being contacted, the release said said.

Fire crews began clearing the scene at about 1:40 p.m., the release said.

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