Gas issue results in evacuation at Crested Butte Community School

Everything good but hoops canceled

By Mark Reaman 

The Crested Butte Community School was evacuated late Tuesday afternoon before a series of basketball games were set to begin and after a strong smell of gas was detected in and around the facility about 4:30 p.m.

Crested Butte chief marshal Mike Reily happened to be at the school at the time and he said he was leaving the elementary gym and came across school administrators who had smelled the gas and were discussing evacuating the school. “They were very decisive, and I concurred with their plan,” Reily said. “I was able to get on the radio to give the fire crew a brief heads up before the call was dispatched and the fire alarm activated.” 

According to Crested Butte Fire Protection District (CBFPD) fire chief Rob Weisbaum, the number of people evacuated from the facility was not determined, “but for safety reasons, we ensured that 100% of occupants were cleared out of the school.”

The safety team ultimately did not find any explosive levels of gas within the school. Weisbaum said the utilities appeared to be in working order, however he said “one of the big boilers did throw a code that Atmos will be investigating and pressure testing. As there were no notable dangerous conditions, there wasn’t anything to mitigate. The building did not need any form of ventilation.” 

It is common during the cold winter months for the CBFPD to respond to numerous calls for service for the smell of gas. In this particular incident, the odor of natural gas was very strong from the exterior of the building. 

“Once crews arrived on scene, they conducted a 360-degree exterior survey while making entry inside to determine if there were any smells of gas on the interior of the school,” said Weisbaum. “The smell of gas remained on the exterior of the building. Once the crews swept the floors and checked for potentially dangerous conditions, they were able to deem the school safe and allowed re-entry. An Atmos technician happened to be onsite already and assisted with the incident.”

Weisbaum explained that the cold weather along with inversion weather often leads to gas meters “burping.” When pressure begins to build, the pressure relief valve performs as it should and releases gas in an effort to reduce pressure in the system. With the inversion, the gas odor seems to stick around a little bit longer before dissipating into the air. “We will await the final answer after Atmos pressure tests the system for safety, but as of right now it appears the system did exactly what it should,” he said.

As a reminder, Weisbaum reiterated that the best measures during the winter to help prevent gas related issues is to ensure that your gas meter is clear of snow and ice and readily accessible. This would allow occupants to look at the gas meter dials to see if they are freely spinning at a fast rate which could indicate a leak. Additionally, as snow and ice settles around the piping, it causes pressure on the system which can lead to leaks or fractures. As always, if you detect that “rotten egg” smell in or near your property, call 911. Thank you for helping us keep you and our community safe by clearing out those gas meters.

School classes were held as normal on Wednesday.