Crews at a construction site where a gas leak forced the evacuation of Royal Oak Middle School on Feb. 8, 2018.
Royal Oak Middle School was evacuated due to a gas leak on Travino Lane Thursday afternoon, Saanich police said.
School District 63 Supt. Dave Eberwein said school officials became aware of the gas leak at 1:45 p.m. due to both a strong smell and a loud noise of a leak.
“As a precautionary measure, they started an evacuation of the school,” Eberwein said.
Eberwein said he was told construction crews hit a five centimetre (two inch) gas line at a site.
FortisBC was able to localize the gas leak and do a walkthrough of the school. At around 2:15 p.m., students were able to return to classes. They will be dismissed a regular time.
Eberwein said the students did well during the evacuation and credited how calm they were due to regular practice exercises.
“Our students at Royal Oaks Middle School performed admirably,” Eberwein said.
Police were with Saanich fire after the gas leak. Traffic was also rerouted in the area.
Police said reports on social media that the school was under lockdown were not accurate.
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