Classes resume at Faith Middle School after evacuation

A natural gas leak at Fort Benning caused Faith Middle School to be evacuated Thursday.

Military police escorted the Faith students and staff across the street to Dexter Elementary, where they waited approximately two hours until being allowed to return after the gas line was repaired, said Fort Benning public affairs officer Monica Manganaro.

Workers constructing an annex behind Faith accidentally struck a gas line and immediately notified school officials, Manganaro said.

“There was a gas smell in the building,” she said. “The fire department did an air quality check, and all is reported fine.”

The evacuation “really was a precautionary measure, and the parents were notified that they could come pick up their children,” Manganaro said.

How many of the 492 students left school and how many remained when classes resumed wasn’t available. “But 100 percent were accounted for,” she said.

This story was originally published February 25, 2016 at 2:12 PM with the headline "Classes resume at Faith Middle School after evacuation."