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Northwest Side School Evacuated After Gas Leak: Fire Department

By Alex Nitkin | December 15, 2016 9:23am | Updated on December 15, 2016 11:37am
 Students play in an empty field outside O.A. Thorp Academy.
Students play in an empty field outside O.A. Thorp Academy.
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DNAInfo/Heather Cherone

PORTAGE PARK — Students at Thorp Scholastic Academy, 6024 W. Warwick Ave., were evacuated and sent to another school after a gas leak was discovered Thursday morning, police and fire officials said.

Emergency responders got to the school after being called around 8 a.m., according to Officer Bari Lemmon, a Chicago Police spokeswoman.

Before classes started, staff members "noticed a potential gas odor" and evacuated the school "as a precaution," according to Chicago Public Schools spokesman Michael Passman.

Parents received automated phone calls telling them about the leak around 8:20 a.m., officials said.

Workers shut off the school's gas line and are "investigating the cause of the leak," according to Vanessa Hall, a spokeswoman for People's Gas.

Thorp bused most of the school's 840 enrolled students to Smyser Elementary School, 4301 N. Melvina Ave., about a half-mile away, according to Debbie Dean, Smyser's executive assistant. Meanwhile, parents were diverted as they dropped off their kids at Thorp before class, she said.

By 10:30 a.m., only about 50 Thorp students remained at Smyser, Dean said. The rest were picked up and brought home.

"All the students are safe and sound and warm," said Dr. Emily Chambers, Thorp's assistant principal. The school will release more information later in the day Thursday, she said.

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