JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Seven children and a bus driver were taken to area hospitals Tuesday afternoon after complaining of fumes on a First Student school bus.
Four complaining of nausea about 4 p.m. were taken to Baptist Medical Center and four others to UF Health Jacksonville as a precaution, the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue said. Nine other students did not complain of any health effects. They were either picked up by their parents or taken by another bus that completed the route.
The bus, which was transporting students from Fort Caroline Middle School and Grasp Academy, remained at the intersection of West Fourth at Jefferson streets. JFRD took ambient air readings, which did not show elevated levels of carbon dioxide.
About 90 minutes after the incident began, Duval County schools announced that an initial evaluation found no engine fumes or exhaust had entered the cabin of the bus, but the suspicious odor came from a cleaning product used to clean the seats just before the bus began the afternoon route.