by Meredith Matz
Baltimore Watchdog Reporter
Two adults and one child were injured early Thursday when a boiler-room explosion tore through a private college preparatory school in Owings Mills, the Baltimore County Fire Department said.
One of the adults and the child were rushed to local hospitals, while the second adult was treated at the scene, fire officials said.
Fire Department units was called out to the McDonogh School in the 8600 block of McDonogh Road at 8:31 a.m. for a report of an explosion at the “shot tower.” The “shot tower” is a smokestack that is connected to a boiler room.
The first responders located the top of the shot tower and found bricks sprinkled in the area of the explosion. Firefighters immediately constructed a collapse zone and searched the area for trapped victims. None were found, fire officials said.
Students and employees, including the two who worked in the boiler room, quickly evacuated the building. Fire officials said the explosion did not result in a fire.
About 20 pieces of fire equipment responded to the call to the school, which was founded in 1873 and has an enrollment of 1,300.
The Maryland Occupational Safety and Health (MOSH) was investigating.