JAY — Officials evacuated Spruce Mountain High School on Thursday morning when students reported the smell of propane gas.
A technician from Dead River Co. determined the issue was a malfunctioning vaporizer, which turns the liquid propane to a gas, and fixed it. Students returned to the building at 10:36 a.m., about 90 minutes after the incident was reported, Superintendent Scott Albert said in a news release.
After being notified of the odor, Principal TJ Plourde pulled the fire alarm and had students go to the main parking lot away from the propane tanks.
Spruce Mountain Middle School Principal Greg Henderson pulled the fire alarm there, too, because the two buildings are attached, Albert said.
Firefighters had high school students go to the softball field while middle school students went to their gym to put more distance between them and the tanks.
Parents were alerted of the situation around 9:30 a.m. via robo-calls, Albert said.
“I want to thank all staff who handled the situation in a professional and safe manner,” Albert said in the release. “I also wanted to thank our first responders for always responding so quickly and doing such a wonderful job keeping us safe.”
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