Charger Causes Hazmat Situation At Roxbury School

ROXBURY (CBS) -- Eight at a Roxbury school went to the hospital after inhaling fumes from an overheated charger.

Firefighters say an electronic device charger overheated and sparked on Monday at the Manville School, and when a teacher tried to cool it down in some water, the device let off gas that made students and staff sick.

"The student had a charger and that charger apparently started to heat up, started sparking and then he threw it down," a fire official said. "Some people came and helped him, they took it to the bathroom and tried to isolate it. They ... put it in a bucket, filled it with water and it started to off gas."

The gas made people nearby light headed.  An ambulance took seven people to the hospital, and one person drove himself.

Crews put the device in a yellow bucket labeled "hazardous material."

None of the students or staff at the school were evacuated during the incident.