Jeremy Boyer, Maggie Hicks
syracuse.com
(TNS)
Syracuse, N.Y. — Six weeks ago, the Syracuse fire marshal gave the Syracuse Academy of Science High School passing marks during an annual safety inspection. The marshal is tasked with ensuring schools have working carbon monoxide detectors, among other things.
But this week, firefighters chanced upon a carbon monoxide leak in the same school’s kitchen while tending to a custodian found dead in the building. Five other staffers were sent to the hospital with symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning. The custodian’s cause of death is under investigation.
School officials initially said there was a carbon monoxide detector in the kitchen. Wednesday afternoon, they reversed course, and said there was a smoke detector only.
School and fire officials thought that smoke detector was a 2-in-1 device that also signaled for carbon monoxide, according to the school. That assumption was enough to sail through the fire safety inspection in November.
The mishap raises questions about the diligence of the fire inspections in charter and private schools, and about the school’s attention to detail on safety.
A city spokesperson said Wednesday the fire department is “reviewing the schedule” for inspections of other non-public schools, but wouldn’t say if schools will be re-inspected. The city so far is deflecting questions about how the November inspection was handled.
Charter schools, which are run privately but receive public funding, must obtain annual fire safety inspections and report them to the state Department of Education. The Syracuse Fire Department is the agency with jurisdiction to do those inspections in the city.
The most recent report the Syracuse Academy of Science filed with the state shows an inspection at the 1001 Park Ave. school took place on Nov. 26. It found no issues related to carbon monoxide monitoring.
The state fire code requires any rooms in a commercial building with fuel burning appliances, such as those used in a school’s kitchen, to have a carbon monoxide detector. Syracuse Academy of Science officials said a malfunctioning food warmer caused the higher carbon monoxide levels discovered Tuesday.
When asked why the city’s November inspection, conducted by Fire Marshal Michael Raymie, erroneously found the kitchen area was in compliance, Syracuse officials deferred to the Syracuse Police Department’s ongoing investigation of the incident. “SPD will provide future updates,” said Brooke Schneider, spokesperson for Mayor Ben Walsh’s office.
Schneider said the fire department’s prevention bureau has ensured that all Syracuse City School District building inspections have been properly conducted and that the district’s facilities are all in compliance.
But for private and charter school inspections, the fire prevention bureau is reviewing the schedule for annual inspections in light of this week’s incident at Syracuse Academy of Science High School, Schneider said. It’s not clear if that review will result in re-inspections.
The situation at Syracuse Academy stemmed from the SFD’s response Tuesday morning to a person reported to be in cardiac arrest in the cafeteria. That person was a custodian, who was pronounced dead at the scene. Carbon monoxide detection equipment on the responding firefighters’ uniform alerted to high levels of the gas, which can be deadly.
The city fire and codes staff ordered the school closed until additional carbon monoxide alarms are installed and approved. In addition, kitchen equipment must be inspected and certified safe to use by a licensed professional.
The school said it is “diligently working with its relevant contractors to promptly complete this review and implement any resulting recommendations.” Remote instruction is being provided while the school building is closed.
The school also said that security video footage shared with authorities indicates that the person found dead was not affected by carbon monoxide issues. He was found before the food warmer was turned on Tuesday morning, the school said.
The school employees taken to hospitals Tuesday with symptoms of carbon monoxide exposure were all released later that day, the school said.
Students at the school were not exposed to elevated carbon monoxide, the fire department said. State education department records show the school’s enrollment last year was 367 students. The charter school opened in 2003. Its high school building on Park Avenue was formerly the Sacred Heart School.
Carbon monoxide is colorless, odorless and tasteless and results from incomplete combustion. In 2022, more than 600 people in the United States died from accidental carbon monoxide poisoning, according to U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
City reporter Jeremy Boyer can be reached at jboyer@syracuse.com, (315) 657-5673, Twitter or Facebook.
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