Natural gas leak forces evacuation of Riverview Jr.-Sr. High School

A natural gas leak was discovered in Riverview Jr.-Sr. High School on Monday, a day during which no students or staff were inside the building.

A handful of people who were in the Oakmont school in the morning, including custodians and a group conducting an architectural walkthrough, evacuated shortly before 11 a.m., Superintendent Neil English said.

“Out of an abundance of caution, we made sure everyone was out,” he said.

Oakmont police, fire and medics along with Peoples Gas responded. Emergency personnel began leaving about 11:30 a.m.

A Peoples Gas technician found a leak on a line running through a ceiling above classrooms, spokesman Nick Paradise said.

Natural gas service to the school is shut off until the line can be repaired, he said.

“Since that is a customer-owned line and beyond our jurisdiction as the utility, it is the school’s responsibility to make those repairs,” Paradise said. “Once they are completed, we can do our safety checks and then restore service.”

The district plans to complete the repairs and restore service on Tuesday, English said.

The school has about 980 students in seventh through 12th grades. They were off Monday and will be off Tuesday for the district’s winter break.

English could not say exactly how many people were inside the school when the odor was detected. It was noticed and reported by those there for the architectural walkthrough related to upgrades to the school’s kitchen.

No injuries were reported.

Teachers are scheduled for in-service training Tuesday. Most of the training was planned to be virtual, with in-person training at the district’s elementary school, English said.

Students should be able to return as scheduled on Wednesday, English said.

“As of now, that is the plan and we have no reason to believe otherwise,” he said. “If things change, we will let our staff and school community know.”