Students and faculty at Gaithersburg High School were evacuated for two hours to the school's stadium Friday morning before classes because of a suspected gas leak, officials said.
At 9:34 a.m., Montgomery County Public Schools spokesman Derek Turner said the building had been cleared and students were back in school. Washington Gas discovered a leak and quickly fixed it, according to an official with the gas company.
About 7:15 a.m., a gas line broke near the east wing of the Science Center, Gaithersburg Police Chief Mark P. Sroka said. County firefighters responded to the scene and the school was evacuated, prompting a two-hour school delay. There were no injuries, Sroka said.
At the time of the incident, an appreciation breakfast for principals, guidance counselors and PTA presidents was taking place inside the Activity Center at Bohrer Park, which is adjacent to Gaithersburg High School.
Gaithersburg City Council Vice President Michael Sesma, who was attending the breakfast, said he noticed the school parking lot was closed. He said school staff was positioned at each entrance directing buses toward the Activity Center parking lot, where the buses dropped students off. Sesma said he saw hundreds of students standing in the shade at Bohrer Park.
As he entered the park, Sesma said someone told him, “There’s a possibility that somebody smelled gas, so there might be a gas leak.”
Attempts to reach Gaithersburg City police were unsuccessful.
After renovations, the school opened in 2013. Its enrollment is about 2,300 students.
