5 Ill. Students Burned During Cooking Class

Feb. 19--Five students were injured this morning when gas ignited while they heated hot chocolate on a single-burner stove during a cooking class at Northside College Prep High School, officials said.

The most seriously injured student was taken to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center in serious condition with facial and arm burns, Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford said. Another student was taken in good-to-fair condition to Illinois Masonic.

Two students with minor burns were taken in fair-to-serious condition to Swedish Covenant Hospital. A fifth student who was injured declined to be taken to a hospital.

The fire occurred around 10:35 a.m. at the school at 5501 N. Kedzie Ave. Sprinklers put the fire out, Langford said.

Dani Jean-Baptiste, a ninth-grade student, said she was headed to her locker on the second floor, when she heard a fire alarm go off and a handful of people rush down the stairs.

One girl was screaming for help, Jean-Baptiste said.

"Nobody really knew what was happening because it happened so quickly," she said.

An EMS Plan I, which automatically sends at least six ambulances to the scene, was secured at 11:11 a.m.

Chicago Board of Education officials released a short statement under the name of spokesman Joel Hood.

"During a routine cooking instruction, there was an incident with a single-burner stove that resulted in a small fire," according to the statement.

Students from the class were immediately told to leave the lab and the fire was put out in the lab, according to CPS. No chemicals were involved in the fire.

"The school responded immediately," according to the statement. "All students were evacuated from school for a short time until it was determined that they could return safely. An investigation is underway."

After the fire, students lined up on the sidewalk in front of the school as they waited for officials to clear the building.

Jean-Baptiste said she found out what had happened when she was standing outside with her friends. One of her friends, she said, was in the cooking class at the time of the incident.

Classes resumed within a few hours after the incident and school was dismissed at a normal time.

Parents were notified of the fire in robocalls and will receive a letter home this afternoon about the incident, according to CPS.

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