Students at Oxford High School were evacuated Tuesday after school officials noticed the smell of gas coming from a third floor science lab.
According to high school principal Frank Samuelson, sometime around 12:20, he and staff members noticed the faint smell of gas in the science wing and pulled the fire alarm.
Oxford Fire Department and the Seymour Fire Department’s Rapid Response Team responded to the scene and checked the area for gas fumes.
They monitored the third floor science wing for any leaks.
Fire Marshal Scott Pelletier said firefighters also took an inventory of chemicals in the science lab for safety precautions.
“Firefighters found nothing suspicious and students were allowed to re-enter the building at 1:20 pm,” he said.
There were no injuries reported during the incident.
Pelletier said he would be working with school officials on an investigation into the cause.
“We have to figure out what was going on,” he said.
Superintendent of Schools Dr. Judith Palmer said students were in the third floor science labs doing experiments at the time of the incident.
“Thankfully this was nothing more than a faint smell,” she said.
Samuelson added school officials said the procedure to evacuate the 560 students took approximately three minutes.
“The staff did exactly what they were trained to do in an emergency, they did a great job,” he said.
