Gas Line Punctured In Front Of EC 5/6 Center, Students Briefly Evacuated, But Everything Is OK

Construction crews work to repair a punctured gas line in front of the 5/6 Center today. (T. Skees)

Edmonson Voice Staff Report
The Edmonson County 5/6 Center was on alert today as a punctured gas line in front of the building caused the school to be evacuated for a short time this morning.

A utility worker apparently grazed a two inch line with the bucket of an excavator which caused natural gas to spew up in the air high pressure. 

Emergency Management Director Pat Prunty said that Leitchfield Utilities was nearby and was on scene to shut off the gas supply and repair the line very quickly.

"Natural gas dissipates in the atmosphere much more quickly than propane," Prunty said. "It is not near as explosive as other flammable gasses. The main concern with a natural gas break is keeping it away from building ventilation sources, but there was really no major concern with that here today."

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Workers repair the damaged gas line on W. Center Street. (Em. Mngmnt)

EC 5/6 Center Principal Alan Talley said the school was evacuated as a safety concern, but there was never any real threat to students or school staff.

"Through Edmonson County Emergency Management, the State Fire Marshal informed us that the only real concern here was a strong odor," Talley said. "Just as a precaution, we evacuated the students onto the baseball field around 10am and we were back inside around 10:50am."

He said the evacuation was extremely smooth and the students handled the situation with no issues.

"The kids were awesome," he added. "Everything was fine." ​

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