Emery County Sheriff’s Office Press Release
On Thursday, the Emery County Sheriff’s Office (ECSO) Dispatch Center received a call from Castle Valley Special Service District at 11:17 a.m. reporting that a natural gas line had been hit 1/2 block east of Huntington Elementary.
The Huntington Fire Department was paged, Dominion Energy was contacted and an ambulance was paged for stand-by. ECSO hazmat technicians also responded. The line was a 2-inch service line, not a main line. Gas was spewing and the wind was carrying the smell toward Huntington Elementary School. The neighborhood was evacuated and the school was placed on lock down so the students wouldn’t go outside.
While Dominion Energy crews were quickly working on shutting down and repairing the line, ECSO was in contact with Huntington Elementary to decide the best course of action for the students as the smell was becoming worse at the school. It was decided that as a precautionary measure, Huntington Elementary would close for the remainder of the day.
The school then began the reunification process to have students picked up by their parents or other approved adult. Once all students had been picked up, the school closed. Though this was an unfortunate incident, it was a real-life opportunity for the school to successfully practice their reunification plan as mandated by Utah law.