A suspected gas leak in the restroom in the back west parking lot forced the evacuation of students and teachers in the 130s and 150s building for most of fourth period, but no one was hurt and no damage was reported, officials said.
“Safety is one of our main priorities at Sunny Hills High School,” wrote principal Craig Weinreich in an Aeries Communication email at 1:25 p.m. on Friday, May 2. “Fullerton Fire Department was also dispatched to the school to confirm that [it] was safe for our students to return to class.”
Custodial staff and campus supervisors went around advising students and teachers to go outside and to the gym for the rest of the period, and the situation was resolved by lunch.
On-site and district maintenance staff investigated along with the Fullerton Fire Department’s Fire Truck 6 and discovered the source of the smell was determined to be a faulty restroom fan system and not a gas leak.
WHAT’S THAT SMELL?
Science teacher Chris Peoples said campus supervisor Jason Hughes came into the classroom and told him about a strong natural gas odor.
Since students were working on a laboratory simulation, they relocated to the tables outside the Roundhouse and continued working.
“He thought it was a gas leak [but] it was not a gas leak,” Peoples said. “As soon as I took a smell in the restroom that was having the issue, I knew it was not natural gas from the pipes, it was what we call sewer gas, which is a mixture of hydrogen sulfide and something called mercaptan.”
The science teacher said he has experience in seismology and environmental work, which led him to think the gas wasn’t a significant threat but just a sewer gas backup.
“We were never in any danger of an explosion or anything,” Peoples said. “We’ve had issues with [gas smells] before, just not that strong.”
A NOT-SO-PUNGENT SURPRISE
“I had my headphones on in class because I was editing a video, and I saw everyone getting up, so I was super confused,” said junior Issac Lee, who was working on his Accolade video assignment in Room 138. “When I went outside, people were talking about it being a gas leak, and I had no clue what was happening because I couldn’t smell the gas.”
In Room 130, fourth-period Dance 1 students were warming up with guest coach David Burn, a Class of 2022 Sunny Hills alumnus and dance assistant for dance instructor Leiana Volen, who is on maternity leave.
Custodian Fidel Rivera came in and informed long-term substitute teacher Lillian Yoon about the potential leak and evacuation.
“We went over [to the gym]; there were other PE classes that were evacuating there as well, so we just hung out for the period,” Yoon said. “I was glad it wasn’t anything too serious … but I was disappointed because it was a one-of [a-kind] class for these Dance 1 students.”
Freshman Analie Rivera, who is in Dance 1, said she didn’t know much about the details of the incident.
“Honestly, I didn’t really smell anything at first, but there was a funky feeling in the room,” Rivera said. I was more focused on the warm up we were doing and didn’t focus on the smell.”
