Charlotte Fire Department

Charlotte Fire Department

News Media After Action Report


Report # 091808-016

RE: Natural Gas Leak/ Olympic High School, 4301 Sandy Porter Rd

Benchmarks
Dispatched - 12:26
First CFD Unit Arrives – 12:31 (L-2)
Control Time – 12:53 pm

CFD Personnel/Units
CFD – 34/ 10
Battalions 3, 5, Engines 4, 20, 30, 33, Ladders 2, 4, Rescue 10, Haz-Mat 2

Structure/ Location
Large High School complex, leak occurred in a courtyard

Cause & Origin/Damage Estimates
Private contractors taking soil samples cut a natural gas line using a manual auger.

Injuries/Accidents
NO INJURIES

Evacuations/ Persons Displaced
Over two thousand people were safely evacuated which included students and staff.

Smoke Detectors
Fire alarm used to alert students and staff of an emergency.

Incident Synopsis
FF’s were called to service shortly before 12:30 Thursday afternoon for reports of a strong odor of natural gas @ Olympic High School located in south Charlotte. It took FF’s and a Haz-Mat team close to thirty minutes to stop the leak and declare the incident under control. A contractor taking soil samples struck the gas line causing it to rupture. Over two thousand people to include students and staff were safely evacuated as a result of this incident. Students and staff were allowed back onto the premises after FF’s monitored the facilities with gas detection meters and deemed the school safe. There were no injuries to report.

#END#CFD – PIO – MB