Princeton University had to evacuate a portion of their campus, accounting for 11 buildings and 500 people, Monday morning due to a gas leak.
According to the Times of Trenton, a backhoe struck a gas line south of the McCosh Health Center just before 10 a.m. Students and faculty in buildings the immediate area were quickly evacuated.
School spokesman Martin Mbugua said no one was injured during the gas leak or evacuation and the line breakage did not spark a fire.
After the breakage, the school called to the scene PSEG, Princeton Fire Department, Princeton First Aid and Rescue Squad, the University's Department of Public Safety and Office of Environmental Health and Safety.
Around noon, Mbuaga confirmed the gas had been turned off and, at 12:40, the evacuated buildings were cleared and declared safe once again. In between those two events, the safety officials who arrived on the scene measured the buildings' gas levels before clearing them for reoccupation.
"Because this is a hazard, [McCosh staff] did their best to move [students] to a secure setting," Executive Director of University Health Services John Kolligian told the Daily Princetonian.
Stephen Pacala, director of the Princeton Environmental Institute, said he was not made aware of the exact nature of the emergency at the time, but was instructed at 10 a.m. to evacuate the Gyuot building.
"I was talking with a colleague about N-fixation in the ocean, and then we went outside and continued talking about N-fixation in the ocean," Pacala said. "We left taking care of the gas leak to the professionals."
Gas leaks are highly dangerous for a number of reasons. If exposed to a flame, it could cause a serious explosion or compound the fire's strength. It could also go undetected and create a very poisonous gas called carbon monoxide.
