Gas odor leads to evacuation of Connoquenessing Elementary
Connoquenessing Elementary School was evacuated for several hours Tuesday after the odor of natural gas was reported inside the building.
The 253 students and 25 faculty and staff were evacuated around 10 a.m. and were transported to the Butler Intermediate High School due to cold temperatures, said Brian White, district superintendent.
Peoples Natural Gas workers responded and determined the odor likely came from gas drilling operations in the area and not from inside the school or a nearby regulator station, White said.
Students ate lunch in the intermediate school and were returned to Connoquenessing at about 1:15 p.m., he said.
“A better safe than sorry kind of situation,” White said.
He said the odor was noticed throughout the building and maintenance staff reported the strongest odor was detected in the rear portion of the building.
