H2 Building evacuated due to gas leak

Reagan McAdams

The H2 Building was evacuated at 10:20 this morning following the discovery of a gas leak. The leak was coming from Mr. Bret Moyer’s room, who teaches Food and Nutrition, where two stoves were slightly turned on and leaking gas.

“I just smelled gas, and I was like this is not good,” Tyler Morrison ’21, who was in the building at the time, said. “I was nervous.”

Students in the building found Mr. Drake Brown, who teaches Health in the H2 building, and informed him of the smell.

“Students were leaving their classes, and they smelled gas and a student reported it to me,” Mr. Brown said. “So I went and found an administrator and told them.”

Eagle Valley staff were efficient with the evacuation, and everyone got out safe. Mr. Doug Little teaches History and Student Council in the H2 building and was working at the time. 

“The administration came into our building and told us that we needed to evacuate and go to the main building,” Mr. Little explained. “And then the administration stood outside the building and redirected kids to the cafeteria while emergency services arrived.”

The teachers stayed calm and collected, even with an urgency to get outside.

“It was a pretty simple process, we were just super safe and cautious about it,” added Mr. Drake Brown. “I went through the classrooms upstairs and made sure everyone made it out.”

Teachers evacuated to the cafeteria in the Main Building, and administration stood outside the building and redirected students to the cafeteria while emergency services arrived. 

Ms. Kelly Kienzle, who teaches science in the H2 building, felt the communication was clear and the staff were prepared to respond.

“We all practiced evacuation drills, I don’t think anyone was confused about where to go or what to do,” Ms. Kienzle said.

Mr. Doan made an announcement so everyone in the Main Building knew what was going on and kept teachers updated using the staff Remind group. 

The evacuation lasted about an hour.  The Fire Department cleared the building, and classes were able to return to normal.