POLAND – A dozen people were taken to Lewiston hospitals Thursday night for dizziness and nausea during cheerleading practice at Poland Community School on Route 26.

Fearing the sudden illnesses might be due to carbon monoxide, fire and rescue crews evacuated roughly 60 people from the school gym.

Ambulance crews from several area departments took those stricken – most of them were schoolgirls – to Central Maine and St. Mary’s Regional medical centers to be examined. Fire officials said none of the girls, all elementary school age, lost consciousness.

The incident was first reported about 7 p.m. Hours later, fire crews were still inside the school gym with air monitoring equipment, searching for traces of carbon monoxide or other contaminants.

Two hours later, none had been found.

Poland fire Chief Mark Bosse said the girls who reported the symptoms were together on one side of a partition separating one half of the gym from the other. The people on the other side of the partition did not fall ill.

“The girls on that one side complained of light-headedness and dizziness,” Bosse said. “They felt sick to their stomachs.”

Rescue crews first set up staging areas where children were examined. Those with complaints were sent to ambulances, then to hospitals.

Firefighters monitored the air inside the gym for carbon monoxide and other chemicals after some at the school said they had smelled propane, bleach or diesel fuel earlier in the day.

“Right now, we’re not finding anything out of the ordinary,” Bosse said. “But we’re certainly not taking any chances.”

Only firefighters were allowed in the gym once it was evacuated. Those seeking coats and other things left behind were told they could not go back into the gym until it was deemed safe.

The parents of all students at the school were notified. Within minutes of the first reports, parents began arriving. Some parked hastily in the lot and ran into the school to check on their children. Most found their children without any medical issues.

The scene around the school slowed traffic on Main Street as a dozen ambulances, firetrucks and county police cars jammed the lot and Route 26.

The girls taken to hospitals were expected to be discharged later Thursday night. Fire officials said there was no indication that school would be closed Friday, although a determination had not been made by late Thursday evening.

The school principal and vice principal were notified of the incident and were consulting with fire officials.