Wallace PARENTS- School Evacuated- UPDATE

A heads up to parents of children at Wallace School: a phone call just informed me that our kids have been moved out of the school building due to high levels of natural gas found in the building.

Dismissal will occur from the Wallace playground at the regular time- 2:47 PM.

Our kids are safe.  GA will update you when more information becomes available.

11:45 AM- I just picked up LA from the High School.  The kids are in the auditorium, "The Lorax" is playing- kids are doing their homework, and many have contacted family members to pick them up.  The line to sign your child out is long.  School lunch will be provided for the kids who have it at Wallace.

Will keep you posted as more about the situation is known.

3:00 PM- Patch is reporting that the problem appears to be with an air intake vent and not a gas leak,  thank goodness:

Toback said staff reported the smell of gas before the school day began and got worse as the day wore on.

At Wallace School, members of the Hoboken Fire Department were on the scene. Fire Chief Richard Blohm told Patch that as of 11 a.m., there was no official cause, but a shift commander informed him that there could be a problem with an air vent near the school's heating system.

Blohm said the boiler has a pressure regulator, and when the boiler is turned on, pressure builds up and vapors are released to the outside. Blohm said it is possible the vapors may have gotten inside the school through air intake vents nearby.

"The construction official is on site and they are going to contact someone to do emergency repairs," he said. "There is no actually a gas leak inside the building."