OGDEN — The school day for students at James Madison Elementary ended early after a natural gas leak was detected in an unused classroom Thursday.

“We evacuated per normal procedures when the smell of gas was detected. We brought in a maintenance crew and Dominion Energy. We initially planned to repair the leak and bring students right back to class but then we decided out of an abundance of caution not to bring kids back into the classroom,” Jer Bates, Ogden School District spokesperson, told the Standard-Examiner.

Bates added that the decision to send students home was in part due to the smell, which they felt caused concern even though “the measured levels were not high enough to be considered dangerous.”

By the time the Ogden Fire Department was notified, Dominion Energy was already on-site, according to Mike Slater, the deputy fire chief.

Bates said that there was never a serious danger and students were kept away from the part of the building where the leak was detected.

The affected area has already been repaired and tested and the school will return to its normal schedule Friday.

Also on Thursday, there was a report of an ordered shutdown at an IRS building in Ogden due to an employee smelling what they thought was natural gas. Dominion Energy investigated and found no evidence of a leak, Slater said.

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