RSU 56 Superintendent Pam Doyen, left center, waits outside of Dirigo Elementary School in Peru on Tuesday morning after the odor of propane gas was reported. Peru Fire Chief Bill Hussey stands to her right. Marianne Hutchinson/Rumford Falls Times
PERU — Dirigo Elementary School was evacuated Tuesday morning after a custodian reported the smell of propane gas, but companies that provide the fuel and deliver it for the school kitchen found no leaks.
Peru Fire Chief Bill Hussey, center, waits for a report that Dirigo Elementary School in Peru is clear of any gas leaks Tuesday morning. Marianne Hutchinson/Rumford Falls Times
One school employee was taken by Med-Care Ambulance to the Rumford Hospital after reportedly feeling lightheaded and unsteady, Superintendent Pam Doyen said.
Students were bused to Dirigo High School in Dixfield and eventually dismissed for the day, she said.
“We’re being very precautious,” Peru Fire Chief Bill Hussey said as he and firefighters from Peru, Rumford and Dixfield fire departments waited at the school parking lot, while employees from Specialty Services, which supplies the propane, and Community Energy, which delivers it, checked the building for leaks and found none.
After Central Maine Power cut electrical service to the school, firefighters did perimeter checks with air monitors and entered the building, Hussey said.
Doyen said classes will resume Wednesday morning at the school at 117 Auburn Road.
mhutchinson@sunmediagroup.net
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