Napa High School Closed Due to Strong Chlorine Odor

Napa High School was closed for the day Wednesday because of a strong smell of chlorine coming from the swimming pool on campus.

Power lines fell from a PG&E pole near the campus around 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, knocking out power in the area and closing portions of state Highway 29 at Lincoln Avenue and First Street, according to the California Highway Patrol. The road reopened around 9 p.m.

Napa High School is located at 2475 Jefferson St. north of Lincoln Avenue.

The power outage shut down a pump that adds water to the campus pool, but a separate pump that adds liquid chlorine was not affected, Napa city spokesman Barry Martin said.

The subsequent strong smell of chlorine in the air was evident when school staff arrived around 6:30 a.m., Martin said.

The Napa Fire Department responded and advised closing the school. Students and staff left the campus by 7:30 a.m., Martin said. A Napa High School track meet, badminton game and softball game were all postponed to a later date.

Three school maintenance workers reported trouble breathing and were taken to a hospital for evaluation, according to Martin.

He said it will take several hours before the excess chlorine in the pool passes through the pool's filters now that the water pump is working again.

The Napa County Department of Environmental Health was still at the scene Wednesday morning, Martin said.

CHP Officer Anna Paulson said the power lines were across both sides of Highway 29 Tuesday night.

The northbound lanes of Highway 12 at First Street and the southbound lanes at Lincoln Avenue were closed, Paulson said.

Two vehicles were stuck in place on the highway between the downed power lines and waited for PG&E to confirm the lines were no longer live, she said.

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