Small Explosion and Fire at Dundalk High School After Gas Line Cut

Baltimore County Fire Department units, local volunteer companies and emergency medical service personnel responded to a small fire in the basement of Dundalk High School early Wednesday afternoon.

No injuries have been reported at this time, according to Lynn W. Mullahey, a spokeswoman for the Baltimore County Fire Department.

She said fire crews were called to the school at 12:30 p.m. for a report of a natural gas line that had been ruptured by workers there.

Construction employees at the school were overheard telling BG & E responders that a small explosion occurred after a worker apparently sawed through a gas line, believing the line to be a water or steam line. Also overheard were questions by construction employees about whether the gas lines had been shut down prior to the accident.

Rachael Lighty, a spokeswoman for BG & E, confirmed that a three-inch gas line inside the school had been cut and that gas had not been turned off prior to work Wednesday. She said equipment inside a building, such as the school, is not owned by BG & E. It's up to the property owners, Baltimore County Public Schools in this case, to turn off the gas.  

BG & E does respond to such emergencies and helps make sure any issues are resolved safely. 

The school was immediately evacuated. However, no students were at the school Wednesday as Baltimore County Public Schools are currently on spring break.

Baltimore County Fire Department Battalion Chief Martin Munroe, of Station No. 16 in Golden Ring, said firefighters quickly gained control of the fire after arriving.

“The fire was in the basement of the school,” Munroe said. “There was a lot of smoke in the crawl space where the fire was confined.”

Construction crews are all over the Dundalk High School campus, as building has begun for the new high school and new Sollers Point Technical School, which will share a campus, expected to be ready for the start of school in 2013.

Grant Cunningham, Dundalk High School/Sollers Point Technical School project manager for the Baltimore-based company Whiting Turner, would not comment on the fire.

Efforts to reach Whiting Turner, BG & E and Baltimore Public School officials Wednesday afternoon were not successful.