School Children Moved, Main Street Reopens After Downtown Gas Leak

ANNAPOLIS, MD -- The odor of natural gas has dissipated from the downtown Annapolis area, according to the Annapolis Police Department Facebook page. Annapolis Elementary School students are being bused to Annapolis High School to continue their school day, according to school officials, and Main Street has reopened.

Windy conditions on Monday made it difficult for emergency teams to find the potential gas leak, according to authorities. Main Street has been reopened. Cpl. Amy Miguez, an Annapolis Police Department spokesperson, said "it's possible that it was a boiler that was firing up and misfired."

Miguez said the initial reports of the gas leak came in around 10:30 a.m. and the buildings on the west side of Main Street to Conduit Street, including Annapolis Elementary School, were evacuated as a precaution.

Much of the area was evacuated just under an hour later. Luckily, there were few people in the downtown area on Monday, according to the Capital Gazette, so evacuations were relatively easy. The Annapolis Fire Department is leaving an engine on the scene to continue the investigation

This story is developing and Patch will update it as more information becomes available.

Article image via Annapolis Office of Emergency Management Facebook Page