Gas leak forces evacuation

Raymond Kwan
Senior Staff

Hundreds of students and staff were rushed out of their classes and residences shortly after 2:30 p.m Nov. 9 after construction workers severed a gas pipe at one of York’s latest construction projects at the Life Sciences Building.
The gas leak prompted a quick evacuation from the surrounding buildings, including Stong College, Calumet and Bethune colleges and residences, the Petrie Science and Engineering Building, the East and West Office Buildings, the William Small Centre, Chemistry Building and Tait Mckenzie Centre.
Emergency personnel cordoned off the area and maintained a 1,000-foot radius around the $70 million building, while York’s emergency response wardens answered questions and directed community members around the area.
As of 5:30 p.m. Tuesday afternoon, York media relations issued a statement saying fire-fighters had successfully capped the leak and had given the all clear to reopen the evacuated buildings, with the exception of the residences and Chemistry Building.
At 8 p.m., Alex Bilyk, director of media relations at York, confirmed students had been let back into their residences.
According to Bilyk, the York University Senate decided to cancel early evening classes held at the affected buildings. Late evening classes were permitted to go ahead, as the university continued to perform air quality assessments.
During the evacuation, students waiting to get back into their residence rooms were not told how long they would have to wait in the cold as fire crews assessed the buildings. One student expressed frustration over the university’s handling of the leak, as very little information seemed to come out.
“I was already asleep, so I just woke up and came out here in shorts,” said third-year finance major Ammar Malik, who lives in Stong residence. “I don’t really know what they can do in such a situation […] but at least let us know how and when [they can] let us back in.”
Bilyk defended the university’s response, saying the unpredictable nature of emergencies always makes it difficult to provide every detail of information.
“In an emergency situation like this, we don’t know sometimes when things will clear up,” said Bilyk.
Malik also expressed concern the university’s communication was not thorough enough and may have left a few students in the dark.
“I bet you that there are at least 10 people inside who never left the building. That always happens,” said Malik.
For regular updates regarding the status of classes and the gas leak, students may refer to York’s website, which will provide up-to-date information as soon as possible.
“We’ll be putting up the information […] on the [website]. Obviously, we want to give the latest information out there,” said Bilyk.