How Many Schools Will Be Evacuated Today Due to Gas Odor?

Andrew Gorman

School's out, kids!

​The understandable fears sparked by San Bruno's immolation have led to some abrupt curriculum changes for hundreds of Bay Area students.

Yesterday, three different West Bay schools were evacuated due to gas odors. San Bruno's Portola Elementary, and San Francisco's Family School and Galileo Academy all canceled classes yesterday and moved their students off campus.

The odor at Portola has been attributed to harmless carbon dioxide wafting out of the school's heating system. Fire officials did not find a gas leak at Galileo either. Our calls to the fire department and Family School have not yet been returned -- but we're venturing that's the case there as well.

Fire Department spokeswoman Mindy Talmadge has told the media that people shouldn't be hesitant to report gas odors -- which is good, because it seems they aren't.

"If you smell something, go ahead and call 911," she said. "Don't write it off."

On Monday, a gas smell prompted the evacuation of San Francisco's School of the Epiphany. That odor was emanating from a propane tank that had been improperly sealed after a weekend church barbecue.

Update, 8:09 a.m.: Officials at The Family School daycare center say a gas smell was emanating from the building's vents at 11:15 a.m. PG&E was called. Though the utility provider couldn't find the source of the odor, it wore off within an hour, according to school officials. Twenty-six kids were evacuated yesterday. PG&E gave them the greenlight and everyone's back today

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