10 high school girls on trip in Frankfort
By Charles Sheehan
Chicago Tribune (Illinois)
Copyright 2006 Chicago Tribune
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News
Carbon monoxide sickened 10 high school girls on a weekend retreat in southwest suburban Frankfort on Saturday, fire officials said.
A faulty heating unit in a cabin at the Camp Manitoqua & Retreat Center left one girl unconscious and nine girls suffering headaches and nausea, said Kevin Stanford, a firefighter and paramedic who was among the first emergency responders.
Carbon monoxide levels were measured at 100 parts per million in the cabin where the girls were sleeping, he said. The odorless and tasteless gas does not reach fatal concentrations until about 400 parts per million, Stanford said.
Ten ambulances were summoned just after 7 a.m. as paramedics moved the students to another cabin and gave them oxygen, emergency officials said.
The students from Rich Township-based School District 227 were taken in fair condition to Palos Community Hospital in Palos Heights, St. James Hospital and Health Care Centers in Olympia Fields and Silver Cross Hospital in Joliet.
All were expected to be released Saturday, Stanford said.
Every building at the Frankfort campsite was inspected by fire officials for carbon monoxide leaks, but only the cabin that housed the 10 girls was affected, said Tina Riley, director of guest services at Camp Manitoqua.
Meanwhile, in Chicago, police reported two shooting deaths over the weekend.
On Friday in the Humboldt Park neighborhood, a man was fatally shot after being chased by three men, police said.
Witnesses told police that Ricardo Viruet, 32, was chased in the 3900 block of West Wabansia Avenue about 8:20 p.m.
One of the assailants grabbed Viruet and threw him to the ground, while another man ran up and shot Viruet several times. The assailants then ran, police said.
Viruet was taken to Mt. Sinai Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 8:37 p.m., the Cook County medical examiner’s spokesman said.
On the South Side, a 15-year-old boy was fatally shot while in a car in the 1400 block of West 97th Street about 3:15 a.m. Friday, police said.
Torian Foster of the 7200 block of South Ridgeland Avenue was in a car with another person when they were shot, police said. The other person in the car was shot in the hand, police said.