New Bedford’s Normandin Middle School Evacuated Thursday
NEW BEDFORD - For the second time this week, a New Bedford school is evacuated due to a strange odor.
Community and Public Affairs Manager for New Bedford Public Schools Arthur Motta says students and faculty at Normandin Middle School in the city's North End were evacuated after a faint odor of gas was detected in the school's boiler room.
Officials from the New Bedford Fire Department and Eversource responded to the school to investigate the source of the odor. The smell was not detected during a walkthrough of the rest of the building, and students were given the all-clear to return to class after 15 minutes.
The source of the odor was determined to be a gas regulator outside the building. Eversource is replacing the regulator.
On Tuesday, Fire Department personnel and Eversource workers were called to Normandin for a report of a gaseous odor. Officials shut down one of the boilers as that was thought to be the source of the smell until Thursday's discovery of a faulty regulator.
Parents were notified of the evacuation via robocall.
Earlier this week, Carney Academy was evacuated after an electrical odor was detected. The source of that smell was determined to be a failed computer power supply.