Employees from Hefren-Tillotson head to their cars at about 9:30 a.m. Monday after their building at the corner of Main and Jefferson streets closed due to a smell of natural gas.

A smell of natural gas or sulphur in the downtown Butler area resulted in the discovery of an unrelated gas leak in an elementary school.

The unnatural smell, which resulted in more than 25 calls to the county 911 center beginning at 5 a.m. Monday, caused Butler Area School District Superintendent Brian White to prevent students arriving at Emily Brittain Elementary School from entering the building.

White also ordered the evacuation of about 30 faculty and staff in the building due to a strong smell of natural gas inside.

Peoples Natural Gas crews responded immediately and found a minor leak in the boiler room at the school, according to Peoples Gas spokesman Barry Kukovich.

He said the leak was not the cause of the widespread smell experienced by hundreds in the downtown area.

Staff members and students who did not remain with their parents walking them to school were bused to the district's intermediate school for the day, White said. Students were housed in the school's auditorium.

Emily Brittain educates 250 students in kindergarten through fourth grade.

“Fortunately, our (intermediate school) music department is preparing for our winter concerts, so they are going to get a nice preview,” White said. “I tasked the administrators with coming up with some activities.”

Kukovich said the Emily Brittain building was shut down and school district crews worked to fix the problem. Once finished, Peoples Gas crews planned to check the boiler and open the building once the leak was repaired.

Regarding the smell reported on Main Street and in other nearby buildings, Kukovich said crews dispatched to check out more than 20 locations reported no problems or leaks.

He suspects the smell came from a commercial vehicle, such as a truck carrying chemicals or a vehicle powered by natural gas.

Bicehouse said calls still were coming in at 11:30 a.m. Monday.

“Most were for the smell of something (unusual) or natural gas,” he said.

Lt. Donald Crawford of Butler Bureau of Fire said four firefighters traversed the downtown area and AK Steel's main gate at Route 8 in Butler Township looking for the origin of the odor.

Their first stop was at the Easy Stop on Main Street, then to Burger Hut, Emily Brittain Elementary, Butler County Ford and the AK Steel main gate.

Meters used by the firefighters all had normal readings for natural gas, Crawford said.An investigation of a Butler Transit Authority bus route found the smell was reported in all areas along one particular bus route.Firefighters asked the bus driver to pull the bus into the garage, which also reported the smell of natural gas, but found no leak or issues with the bus.Crawford said the odor did not originate from AK Steel, either, as the wind was blowing in a westerly direction on Monday morning.“We could not find anything,” he said.Crawford recalled a similar instance in which a propane truck drove the length of Main Street while venting a small amount of the gas.“Every business on Main Street called us,” he said.He added that evidence pointed to the smell coming from outdoors, as Pizza Joe's had no smell of natural gas when its doors were unlocked Monday morning.Also, most of the odors occurred in the entrances of buildings, Crawford said.Those working or doing business on Main Street after 9 a.m. either waited in the cold on the sidewalk or were sent home by their employers after Peoples Gas crews told them to leave the building while gas connections were inspected.Attorney Lynn Patterson, whose office is in the former Union National Bank building at Main and Jefferson streets, said an overwhelming smell of natural gas overtook the lobby and stairwell in the building.She said the building's maintenance crew was on their way in at 9:30 a.m.“I'm going home, but I'll check back in an hour or so,” Patterson said.Lori Artman, who works at Cycle Warehouse, said she had just started the day in her office on the building's second floor when she smelled natural gas.“I thought it was my little heater,” Artman said.When she went outside to put some quarters into a parking meter, she saw dozens of people standing outside of the many businesses and agencies lining Main Street.It was then she learned of the widespread smell of natural gas.“I grabbed my stuff and came back out,” she said.Tina Gibson, of Butler, had a doctor's appointment on South Main Street at 9 a.m.“As soon as I got in, they said they were closing down to evacuate,” said Gibson, whose daughter attends Emily Brittain. “I was panicked. But now I heard they're all safe at the intermediate school.”

Theresa Hewitt, chief operating officer at Center for Community Resources on South Main Street, said she arrived for work at 9 a.m., when employees began complaining of “a strange smell.”She said about 100 employees were evacuated from the building.“Some are working in different buildings, and others went home,” Hewitt said.Aislinn Roberts, a pharmacist at Rite Aid on the corner of Main and Cunningham streets, leaned against the business' front doors at 9:30 a.m. near a “building closed” sign taped there.“It was OK this morning, but at about 8:30 (a.m.), it smelled like natural gas on the street and in the store,” Roberts said. “So now, I'm just kind of waiting to see if it's OK to be in there.”Samantha Conner, of Butler Township, came to work at a Main Street dentist's office around 8:30 a.m.She entered the business' back door and didn't notice the smell until she made it to the waiting room.Conner said another employee called Peoples employees, who instructed them to evacuate the building. People's Gas checked the building and found no danger.“The gas company told us it's OK to go back in,” Conner said.Mayor Ben Smith said he did not detect a smell.“I was in Butler this morning, but I did not experience it,” Smith said.He said he talked to the city clerk, and he agreed with her decision to call 911 upon noticing the smell of sulphur at the city building on the corner of North Washington and West North streets.Smith told the staff at the city building they could go home if necessary and return later.“They said they're fine,” he said.Most buildings appeared to be open by 3 p.m.

Several businesses in downtown Butler evacuated on Monday morning after a strong smell of natural gas was detected.

Several businesses evacuated on Monday morning on the advice of People's Gas after a strong smell of natural gas greeted them as they arrived for work.