ALEX BUCKNAM
Editor in Chief
Police car outside of University Commons. Photo by ALEX BUCKNAM| Editor in Chief
At 9:24 a.m., students received phone calls and emails reporting a gas leak. The gas leak was reported near Jewett Hall, on the side facing Alumni Hall.
At 10:13 a.m., building alarms stopped and emergency service vehicles began leaving the area.
At 10:17 a.m., campus officials notified students that they could safely return to the affected areas.
Officials have not yet publicly released the cause of the gas leak.
When the gas leak occurred, construction workers called University Police (UP), following standard protocol. When workers struggled to shut off the gas valve, they called National Fuel for assistance.
UP ordered Mason Hall, the Williams Center, and Reed Library to evacuate.
Sam Behrens, a freshman student, was in the area when the gas leak started.
“I just left Mason [Hall] and heard the Science Center fire alarm go off,” Behrens said. Behrens added that UP was then heading toward Mason Hall and Jewett Hall.
The Science Center fire alarm this morning was unrelated to the gas leak. Officials did not order the Science Center to evacuate, in relation to the gas leak.
UP arrived at the scene before officials sent a mass notification.
“My friend tried to walk towards Mason Hall and got told to walk the other way,” Behrens said. “At that time, we didn’t know what was happening.”
National Fuel establishes a 330-foot radius around a gas leak, requiring buildings within that area to evacuate. Markus Kessler, director of facilities planning, explained the policy.
“Just like if there’s a gas leak in your home, houses within 330 feet have to evacuate,” Kessler said.
National Fuel uses the rule to prevent potential dangers associated with gas leaks, according to the company.
Following the evacuation, questions arose about why McEwen Hall was not included on the initial evacuation list, as the building was within the 330-foot radius.
Roslin Smith, chair of the Communication Department, said she saw the notification 28 minutes after it was sent. Smith was not in McEwen when she received the notification.
Smith said she was concerned that McEwen was not included in the initial notification.
“I immediately called my secretary and told her to leave the building,” Smith said. “I didn’t know who was in the building, but then I found out the alarm wasn’t going off.”
Smith called UP to ask why the alarm had not sounded. According to Smith, the officer told her officials had already activated the alarm. Smith said the alarm was not sounding when she contacted her secretary.
“My secretary didn’t know,” Smith said. “When I called my secretary, the alarm was not going off.”
Chief Gordon Carpenter said UP was following a specific order of operations during the response. He said his priority was directing police and making sure people reached a safe location.
Carpenter also explained that UP initially treated McEwen and Reed Library as the same location during the response. He acknowledged that the buildings should not have been treated that way.
Although Reed Library and McEwen have separate alarm systems, McEwen’s alarm eventually sounded. The alarm provided an additional warning to staff who may not have received or seen the initial mass notification.
Smith raised concerns about workers in the McEwen café, noting that the main worker did not have a phone. She also expressed concerns about student media organizations, including Fredonia Radio Systems and WNYF-TV, which operate inside McEwen.
“They could have had their headphones on and could have missed the call,” Smith said.
Carpenter acknowledged there was a “hiccup” in the response but described the incident as one of the smoothest events he had seen. He encouraged students and The Leader to contact UP with any questions about the response.
He suggested that if anyone has any questions regarding the situations, to please call in and ask.
From the initial gas leak report to the all-clear notification, the response lasted about an hour.
Construction has resumed on Jewett Hall.
The Leader will provide more information when it becomes available.