A teacher was badly injured and students were evacuated from the main building of La Cumbre Junior High School Monday morning after a sulfuric acid spill in a classroom.
The teacher suffered major injuries with burns to her body, and was treated at the scene before being transported to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital, said Amber Anderson, Santa Barbara City Fire Department spokeswoman.
The teacher, who has not been identified, was later airlifted to a Los Angeles-area burn center, Anderson said.
No students were in the classroom at the time of the spill, just before 9 a.m., said Lauren Bianchi Klemann, Santa Barbara Unified School District spokeswoman.
There were no exposures or injuries reported to any other staff or students, Anderson said.
As of 2:30 p.m., the fire department confirmed the spill was 1 quart of sulfuric acid that was confined to one classroom in the main building.
Two classrooms were sealed, and the district hopes to have the area ready to reoccupy soon, Bianchi Klemann said.
The district contracted with a private company, Channel Coast Corporation, to continue clean-up, she added.
On Monday, the main building for the Santa Barbara Community Academy, which is also located on the campus at 2255 Modoc Road, was not impacted, Bianchi Klemann said.
Students were evacuated from La Cumbre’s main building and sheltered in place at the auditorium, other buildings and on the playground, she said.
The spill happened in one of the school’s science labs, and a hazardous materials team entered the classroom and “neutralized the spill,” Anderson said.
“They have to transport it and the clean-up through hallways, and that’s why they evacuated the building,” she said.
Classes were not canceled, and the school district did not ask parents to pick up their students.
Units from the Montecito and Carpinteria-Summerland fire departments also responded to the scene.
— Noozhawk managing editor Giana Magnoli can be reached at gmagnoli@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
