NEWPORT — Newport Middle High School was evacuated Wednesday morning and four students transferred to the hospital for evaluation after car exhaust fumes filled the building, according to school officials and the fire department.
No one was injured and all four people were released from the hospital following the incident, Newport Fire Chief Steve Yannuzzi said in an interview.
Fire crews were called to the school around 9 a.m. after a report of a strange odor at the building on 245 N. Main St., according to a news release from the Newport Fire Department.
The entire school and staff — just under 500 people — had evacuated before the department arrived, Principal Shannon Martin said, adding that many students were not in the building because they were doing remote learning.
Firefighters checked the school and found “no life-threatening levels” of carbon monoxide according to the release. The fumes came from an auto repair classroom in the adjacent Sugar Valley Technical Center, Yannuzzi said. A car had been moved into the room and the fumes traveled through the air ducts to other parts of the school building.
The school dismissed students early while the building was ventilated. It was deemed safe around 4:30 p.m., the release said.