Five People Hospitalized After Breathing Toxic Fumes

PALM DESERT -Five people who inhaled noxious fumes today at the student center at College of the Desert were taken to a hospital for observation, a college spokesman said.

Eleven people in the Hilb Student Center reported an odor around 10:30 a.m., and some said they were nauseous, said Tom Wixon, a spokesman for the college on Monterey Avenue.

Five people were taken to a hospital for observation, while the other six refused treatment, he said.

Riverside County firefighters and a Hazmat team investigated the source of the odor, said county fire Capt. Fernando Herrera.

Some maintenance work was being done on plumbing below the basement, and fumes from an adhesive that coats the interior of pipes to stop leaks made it through the ventilation and into the building, he said.

The building will remain closed for the rest of the day, the captain said.