Prairie High School evacuated after smell of gas

The odor of gas forced students and staff at Prairie High School to evacuate a building on campus for about an hour Tuesday morning, but they were able to return when officials identified the problem.

Firefighters and utility crews were dispatched to the school around 10 a.m., Vancouver Fire Department spokesman Darin Deming said.

“In this situation we always just evacuate the public, get everybody outside until we can kind of get our eyes on it,” he said.

Battle Ground Public Schools spokesman Sean Chavez said a leak was detected in an outbuilding, and the people inside evacuated to the school’s library and gymnasium.

“School went on as normal for the rest of the buildings,” Chavez said.

Chavez said crews with NW Natural found that a coupling on a gas line was loose, and school and utility staff were able to repair it.