Beaufort High School students sent home after ‘substantial propane leak’ discovered

Beaufort High School evacuated students Thursday morning after Lady’s Island-St. Helena Island Fire District arrived to investigate “a strong propane odor in the gym,” Beaufort County School District spokeswoman Candace Bruder said Thursday.

Fire district spokesman Scott Harris said the department was called “for a possible structure fire” early Thursday morning, and instead discovered a “substantial propane leak” in the school’s gym.

“One of the AC units was sucking the smell and sending it through the vents,” Harris said.

Bruder said the school contacted the fire department at 8:27 a.m., about 15 minutes before classes would have started. The department was on the scene by 8:30 a.m., and students had been evacuated from the building by 8:35 a.m.

“This is why you do all the drills that you do in a year,” superintendent Frank Rodriguez said. “They’ve been doing drills during COVID. When I arrived on site, they were pretty well spaced out in that parking lot.”

Students were sent home after the department advised “it will take some time to clear the building,” Bruder said. Students were on buses by 10:10 a.m., and the last student was picked up at 10:19 a.m.

“We are continuing to make repairs, but the fire marshal has cleared the building for students to return tomorrow,” Bruder said Thursday afternoon.

This story was originally published December 10, 2020 at 11:00 AM.