GRANTHAM — An empty fuel tank led to a scare at a child care center on Tuesday morning.
When staff arrived for the day at the Grantham Children’s Academy, they found a “strong propane odor” in the building, Director Leah Stone said Tuesday.
Stone called 911, maintenance staff and Dead River Company which provides fuel to the child care center. Grantham Children’s Academy staff and first responders evacuated the building with the roughly 35 children between the ages of 10 months and 5 years old.
The Grantham and Lebanon fire departments responded to the call on Route 10 North around 9:15 a.m. Tuesday, according to a news release from the Grantham Fire-EMS Department.
After bundling up the students to face temperatures in the low-teens, staff and first responders took them to the nearby Cioffredi and Associates Physical Therapy office, Stone said. The Grantham Village School also sent a school bus to provide another shelter while first responders and the propane company assessed the building. Some families came by to pick up the youngest children and brought supplies such as diapers, wipes and snacks.
First responders evaluated everyone who was inside the child care center Tuesday morning and found no injuries.
Dead River Company found that the center’s propane tank had no issues, Stone said. It was releasing fumes because it was empty and needed to be refilled. There were no immediate threats, and the students and staff were able to get back into the building by 10:45.
The building had no heat Tuesday morning. Because it would take time to refill the propane tank and reheat the building, students were sent home for the day, Stone said.
Teachers were still on site cleaning up the school and the heat was back on as of about 1:30 p.m. Tuesday.
“We’re expecting to be back up and running as normal tomorrow,” Stone said.