WAVE 3 TV Louisville, KY | Gas leak forces school evacuation

Gas leak forces school evacuation

Posted By Charles Gazaway - email

LOUISVILLE, KY (WAVE) - A natural gas leak in Old Louisville has forced the evacuation of a Louisville elementary school.

JCPS spokesperson Lauren Roberts tells WAVE 3 the concern was an odor coming from a manhole on Gaulbert Avenue outside the school. According to Sgt. Sal Melendez, Louisville Fire Department spokesperson, a leak in an underground natural gas line has been seeping the a sewage line. Melendez said the the situation has been declared as a Level 1 hazardous materials incident, the lowest level possible.

While LG&E and LFD crews searched for the source of the odor, students from Cochran Elementary School at 500 W. Gaulbert were moved from the school building to the Youth Performing Arts School on 2nd Street.

Louisville Metro Police closed several streets in the area to allow crews to look for the source of the odor.

Cochran students were not dismissed early. Parents who wnated to pick up their children were able to do so at Noe Middle School's cafeteria. The remaining students were taken home on their regular buses on the regular schedule.

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