Boiler room explosion at elite Maryland school injured a child and two adults

Boiler room explosion at elite Maryland school blows the top off the building’s smokestack, sending debris flying, and injuring one student and two adults

  • The blast took place around 8.30am on McDonogh School campus outside Baltimore as contractors were doing work 
  • It blew the top off a smokestack, injuring a student and two contractors 
  • One of the adults and the student were hospitalized with minor injuries, the second adult did not require treatment 
  • McDonogh School is an elite private institution outside Baltimore, which was founded in 1873 as a farm school for poor boys 
  • School counts among its noteworthy alumni the now-former National Security Adviser John Bolton and actor David Adkins 

An explosion rocked the boiler room of a prestigious Maryland school on Wednesday morning, injuring a student and two contractors working on site at the time. 

Baltimore County Fire Department spokesman Travis Francis said one child and one adult were taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries at the McDonogh School in Owings Mills. 

A second adult was evaluated but not hospitalized, Francis said.

This photo provided by Baltimore County Fire Department shows emergency personnel responding to an explosion in the boiler room of McDonogh School Wednesday

The explosion injured a child and two contractors performing work on the Owing Mills, Maryland, campus

The explosion injured a child and two contractors performing work on the Owing Mills, Maryland, campus 

The blast blew off the top part of a building’s smokestack

The impact sent bricks raining down on the campus grounds

The blast blew off the top part of a building’s smokestack (pictured). The impact sent bricks raining down on the campus grounds 

The injured male student has since been released from the hospital after being treated for minor injuries inflicted by falling debris.  

An email from a school spokeswoman to parents said the boiler room blast occurred at 8.30am as unspecified work was being performed by an outside contractor on campus. 

The impact blew off the top part of a building’s smokestack, also known as the shot tower, but there was no fire.

Senior Roc Damico, 18, told The Baltimore Sun he was in a different building on campus when he heard a loud noise. 

‘It was a scary experience,’ the 18-year-old told the paper. ‘Everyone was kind of distraught.’ 

A student was struck by falling debris and was taken to a hospital with minor injuries

A student was struck by falling debris and was taken to a hospital with minor injuries 

School buses leave the McDonogh School campus during evacuation following the blast

School buses leave the McDonogh School campus during evacuation following the blast

The McDonogh School (pictured before the explosion) is an elite private institution outside Baltimore that was founded in 1873 as a farm school for poor boys

The McDonogh School (pictured before the explosion) is an elite private institution outside Baltimore that was founded in 1873 as a farm school for poor boys

The Allen Building where the boiler room is located also houses classrooms, offices, the school library, the technology department and music studios.  

Now-former National Security Advisor John Bolton is among the elite Mcdonogh School's famous alumni

Now-former National Security Advisor John Bolton is among the elite Mcdonogh School’s famous alumni 

The McDonogh School is an elite private institution outside Baltimore that was founded in 1873 as a farm school for poor boys and now enrolls about 1,400 students from pre-kindergarten through grade 12 and has nearly 200 full-time faculty members. 

The school counts among its noteworthy alumni the now-former National Security Advisor John Bolton and actor David Adkins.  

‘All students have been accounted for and are safe,’ Head of School Dave Farace wrote in the letter.

‘The area of the explosion (the smokestack adjacent to Allan Building) has been cordoned off,’ Farace wrote. ‘While the campus has been deemed safe by the first responders, McDonogh has decided to take the safest course of action and dismiss students at 11am.’

The fire department has been reviewing the stability of the part of the building where the explosion occurred. The cause of the blast is under investigation.

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk