At least 24 students have been sickened by smoke coming from a Thermal dump fire that forced three schools to shut down on Thursday morning, officials said.
Cal Fire spokesman Fernando Herrera said the smoke affected students who attend Desert Mirage High School, Toro Canyon Middle School and Las Palmitas Elementary School, which all share a campus at Tyler Street and Avenue 66.
He said they all suffered from minor respiratory issues. Nine were taken to a hospital by ambulance and others are going by school bus.
The student populations of the three schools together totals more than 3,700. One student said evacuations began about 9:45 a.m.
"We have a large group of patients. We already used up our ambulances," Herrera said.
The evacuation concluded shortly before 11 a.m.