Bucks elementary school closes due to oil fumes

The M.R. Reiter Elementary School in Morrisville school closed early yesterday after a faulty pump on a boiler sent oil fumes spewing into the building.

Morrisville Borough schools superintendent Elizabeth Yonson said classes ended at 10:30 a.m. for the 250 pupils and 28 teachers and aides at Reiter, located at Harper and Hillcrest Avenues. Yonson said students' parents were notified of the closing by phone and all the pre-kindergarten through second graders were picked up by noon.

There were no injuries, she said. School will be closed today while the defective part is replaced.

Officials from the Bucks County Health Department, a local fire marshal and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency monitored the situation, Yonson said. No citations were issued, she said. The school is expected to reopen Monday, after officials check the air quality, Yonson said.

- Bonnie L. Cook