Baltimore County fire officials said they suspect a student or employee at a Rosedale school dumped a flammable chemical down a bathroom drain, triggering an underground explosion.
More than 350 students from St. Clements School on the 8000 block of Pulaski Highway near Chesaco Road evacuated after faculty detected a strong gas-like odor and pulled the fire alarm around 12:30 p.m., officials said.
At about the same time, an underground explosion at the Rosedale Volunteer Fire station next door blew a manhole cover into the air.
County and state fire and Hazardous Materials crews as well as Baltimore Gas & Electric workers on the scene said they could not identify the chemical, but ruled out natural gas. No injuries were reported.
“Some areastested within flammable range, which means a dangerous level of some kind of material,” said Baltimore County Fire Department spokesman Michael Robinson.
Even a few ounces of a flammable chemical could trigger an explosion, Robinson said.
The chemical entered the county?s main sewer line ? which connects to basic plumbing ? and firefighters flushed the lines with water and anti-fire foam as a precaution, Robinson said.
Firefighters warned residents to keep their windows shut and a 2 p.m. viewing at the nearby Rosedale Funeral Home was canceled. Police barricaded Chesaco Road except for parents coming to pick up students.
The school recently practiced a fire drill during its annual Fire Safety Month, said Toudie Wright, a maintenance worker at the school for the past 18 years.
Wright said employees detected a faint smell of gas Thursday ? comparing it to spilled gasoline on hands ? but it grew stronger.
“We yanked the fire alarm and the kids got out quick,” she said. “In these situations, the kids are fine; it?s the parents you have to worry about.”
