Gas Odor Triggers Evacuation At San Francisco School
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- A gas odor that triggered an evacuation at a Hayes Valley elementary school was probably caused by a failed pilot light on a boiler, a PG&E spokesman said Friday.
A teacher at John Muir Elementary School, located at 380 Webster St., smelled gas in the entryway of the school shortly before 12:45 p.m., school district spokeswoman Gentle Blythe said Friday.
No students or staff members were sickened, but as a precaution, school officials called the fire department and PG&E and evacuated the building.
Students were allowed to go back inside the building within about 15 minutes, Blythe said.
PG&E gas service representatives found no gas leaks at the school but did determine that the pilot light on the boiler had gone out, utility spokesman Joe Molica said.
"There's a possibility that when the pilot light went out it still was blowing gas for 30 to 40 seconds before the safety went on," Molica said. "And guess where the boiler is located? Right under the entryway where the gas odor was detected."
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