Nov. 25--Chicago Public Schools will install a new boiler at the Northwest Side elementary school where carbon monoxide gas sickened nearly 80 children and adults last month.
"Designing, bidding, awarding, manufacturing and installing a new boiler normally takes a year, but we will take every step to ensure the new boiler is operational before the next school year," district CEO Forrest Claypool wrote in a letter to the Prussing Elementary School community Tuesday. He did not include the project's cost.
Officials have already said the district would install about 5,000 new, battery-operated detectors throughout city schools by Dec. 1 in light of the Oct. 30 incident at Prussing.
Claypool said "a series of cascading accidents and errors" led to the gas leak, among them a malfunctioning component on the building's boiler and an unplugged carbon monoxide detector near it.
A fire door that should have been closed was left open, Claypool said, while a fresh-air door that should have been open was closed.
Fire crews were called to Prussing the morning of Oct. 30 after reports of a sick child in the gym, and soon discovered high levels of carbon monoxide in the building. None of the injuries was considered life-threatening.
Claypool said the district had already repaired components on the school's boilers, including new piping and kill switches, while also replacing a malfunctioning fire door at the school.
jjperez@tribpub.com
