Strange odor forces staff to evacuate Mount Sentinel Friday morning
By Nelson Daily Staff
Mount Sentinel staff took no chances, evacuating the school Friday morning after the smell of a suspicious odor began to filter through the South Slocan-based High School.
The Kootenay Lake School District Twitter account said the school was “evacuated due to smoke from unknown source.”
The Nelson Daily has learned the evacuation occurred at approximately 10:30 a.m. Friday.
Kootenay Lake Superintendent Jeff Jones confirmed staff noticed an odor in the building as well as saw a light smoke in the hallway.
Following a quick sweep of the building, fire alarms were activated and the school of 300 students from Grades 7 to 12 were evacuated.
Jones said the local fire department attended along with School District 8 maintenance staff to determine the cause of the odor.
Busses were called to take students home.
The school was re-opened Friday afternoon after it was determined there was no further threat but classes were cancelled.
This is the second time Mount Sentinel High School has been evacuated in three months.
In June, RCMP was alerted to a possible threat at the school, located 20 kilometers west of Nelson near the junction of Highway 3A and 6.
When officers arrived on scene, school officials had detained one of the students. The student was then taken into police custody without incident.
The threats resulted in administration locking down the high school as well as sending students home from the Brent Kennedy Elementary School.
The incident also forced cancellation of Grad Ceremonies at Mount Sentinel.
A teenager was later charged with uttering threats.
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