Snyder-Girotti Elementary School students in Bristol Borough can return to classes Thursday morning after a reported gas leak led officials to send staff and students home yesterday.
Whether parents/guardians send their students back after many anxious moments is another story.
Bristol Borough Fire Chief Herb Slack said at 9:33 a.m. Wednesday Bristol Borough Fire Companies 50, 51 and 52 were dispatched to Snyder-Girotti for a fire alarm. Companies arriving on location were advised that gas smelled in the utilities room.
The fire department checked gas piping and equipment with gas detection meters and two small leaks were located, Slack said.
“The gas to the piping was secured. The room was ventilated and PECO was notified and responded.”
Meanwhile the students were being relocated to the Grundy Arena Ice Rink, the school district decided to release the students for the day after notifying parents around 11:05 a.m.
Bristol Borough-based Meta Pages played an instrumental role in the dissemination of information provided by the school district to parents, especially those who were not receiving/or signed up for text alerts.
Social media commenters/posters many of which have children attending the elementary school voiced general concerns about students returning to classes this morning. Many of which cited the emotional aftershock from last months explosion and fire at the Bristol Health & Rehab Center last month.
PECO was investigating a gas odor report at the Tower Road facility in Bristol Twp at the time the senior focused physical rehab facility ignited and burst into flames. To say the explosion and emergency mass casualty response is in the front of mind for the Bristol community, when the words “gas” or “gas leak” circulates would be an understatement, after reading dozens, upon dozens of comments. A sense of anxiety was apparent across social media.
The National Transportation Safety Board is leading the investigation which remains open as of publication time.
Student families were effusive in their praise of Bristol first responders for quickly locating children across the street, away from any possible danger while emergency responders could investigate where the gas was flowing from.
Around the same time Bristol first responders were safely escorting Snyder-Girotti students to the Grundy Arena, Middletown Township first responders were responding to a gas leak report in the Neshaminy School District, which added more anxious moments for student families.
William Penn Fire Company officials said emergency crews were dispatched to Maple Point Middle School, at 11:13 a.m. for what school district officials called a “utility emergency.” Fire fighters helped ensure all occupants were safely evacuated from the building, fire officials said.
William Penn fire trucks at Maple Point middle school on Wed in Langhorne
Credit: William Penn Fire Co
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