TOWER CITY - A propane gas leak at Williams Valley High School forced the evacuation of baseball players and spectators, and delayed the start of a softball tournament Saturday morning. No one was hurt.
Williamstown fire Chief Scott Slough, of Liberty Hose Company No. 1, reported emergency crews were called to the school in Tower City shortly after 9:35 a.m.
Williams Valley educator Seth Shuey, who was also assisting with security, was near the northwest side of the building, near the underground propane tank, when a noise and the smell of odor additive caught his attention.
"We heard this pop and then a shhhhhhh. Then we could smell it," Shuey said.
According to Slough, the propane tank was "bleeding off" and the tank's "blow-off" valve was doing what it's designed to do - relieve pressure.
It's believed the propane tank, which is used by the high school science department, was filled about two weeks ago and may have been over-filled. Slough said the heat from the sun, perhaps, and the over-filled pressure may have precipitated the blow-off. He was unaware of the tank's gallon size or who is the district's propane vendor.
Slough called for Koppy's Propane Inc., Williamstown, to come to the site to reduce the pressure, bringing it down to a safe level. The process took about an hour, he said, with intermittent, safe relief of the pressure. Koppy's was not the vendor who recently filled the tank.
While Koppy's was relieving the pressure, crews monitored the gas level in the air, Slough said. He did not know the gas level when crews first arrived but after the pressure was reduced, a little more than an hour later, the gas level was at zero, according to Slough.
The Williams Valley and Shenandoah Valley junior varsity baseball teams were evacuated off the baseball field, which sits just a short distance away from the tank site, when the leak was first discovered. An afternoon game between the Vikings and Tri-Valley was played at the teener/Legion field instead.
Meanwhile, the Williams Valley and Upper Dauphin softball teams who were scheduled to play in the first round of a four-team tournament were already practicing on the softball field, located above the high school building and further away from the propane tank. They were permitted to stay where they were, however, spectators on their way to the "2013 MS (Multiple Sclerosis) Benefit Tournament" had to wait at the entrance of the high school driveway and were prohibited from walking in front of the school as a precautionary measure until the leak could be stopped. Visitors were eventually directed to park on the hill behind the high school and could walk down along a tree-lined path to get to the softball field.
The Pine Grove and Hamburg softball squads were a short distance away, playing their first round at Stoney Park in Williamstown and were not affected by the propane gas leak.
Assisting at the scene, in addition to Liberty Hose Company No. 1, were Sheridan Fire Company, Williamstown Borough and Williams Township EMA and the Williamstown Area Ambulance.
