A Google Maps image
SEYMOUR – The Chatfield-LoPresti Elementary School was evacuated Wednesday morning (May 15) after a natural gas odor was detected in the building.
Seymour School Superintendent Susan Compton said two employees – a custodian and a food service worker – felt sick after smelling the odor.
They were checked out at a hospital as a precaution. The custodian returned to finish the shift. The other worker went home after leaving the hospital.
Students and staff returned to the building after about 30 minutes.
Seymour Fire Marshall Timothy Willis said the fire department received a call just before 9 a.m. Wednesday about an odor of gas in the school, located at 51 Skokorat St.
Willis said there was a company at the school fixing a broken water heater. The igniter on the water heater was not working, Willis said. He said it’s likely a gas odor was stirred up while workers were repairing the water heater.
“An odor sometimes happens when parts (of the water heater) get disconnected,” Willis said.
Willis said the fire department arrived on scene within five minutes of the first call.
“The odor dissipated by the time we got there,” Willis said.
Willis said fire crews tested the air with a gas meter and found no trace of gas anywhere inside the building.
As a precaution, Willis said Eversource was called in to check the piping in the water heater and confirmed that there were no leaks on the gas line, and no trace of gas in the building.
