Gas leak triggers evacuation at Merritt Secondary School

MERRITT — A gas leak caused staff and students at Merritt Secondary School (MSS) to evacuate the building Friday (Jan. 12) morning.

Stephen McNiven, School District 58 superintendent, told Pattison Media that a gas leak was identified outside of MSS on one side.

No injuries or damage have been reported and students were relocated to Merritt Central Elementary where they have been dismissed for the day.

“We have FortisBC on site… we don’t have an update as to what the solution is yet,” McNiven says. “Based on the unknown right now, the decision has been trying to get students home to the best of our ability. Parents have been picking up students. We have a number of bus students that come to this school on a daily basis, and we’ll hang onto those students until the end of the day and then we’ll bus those students home.”

McNiven says an update will be sent to parents and students via email. He hopes Monday will be a regular school day.