Four students were taken to area hospitals after a Freon leak Wednesday at Yorkville High School.
Shortly before 2 p.m. Wednesday, a foggy haze fell on two of the high school’s first-story classrooms, Kristine Liptrot, spokeswoman for Yorkville Community Unit School District 115, said.
The entire school was evacuated, with 52 students and staff receiving medical evaluations and four students being taken to hospitals — three to Rush Copley Medical Center in Aurora and one to a facility in Sandwich, Liptrot said.
Liptrot said they showed symptoms from being in rooms affected by the leak, but did not elaborate on what those symptoms were.
All four students were treated at the hospitals and released to their parents.
Firefighters arrived at the high school at 2:04 p.m. and transported the last patient out at 3:01 p.m., she said. About 20 minutes after arrival, officials determined the building was safe, including the classrooms where the haze had been, Liptrot said.
Fire officials determined a coil in a rooftop air conditioning unit was leaking the freon, causing the haze, she said.
Superintendent Tim Shimp said in an email that he’d been at the hospital to support the students and their families. He did not immediately respond to further questions.
Yorkville police and Bristol-Kendall fire officials could not immediately be reached. Liptrot said the response also involved fire departments from Little Rock, Sandwich and Oswego.