Odor prompts brief, partial Redmond HS evacuation

A report of a possible natural gas leak prompted a brief partial evacuation of Redmond High School Wednesday morning, but the odor apparently turned out to be from an oil used in the school’s auto shop, officials said.

Redmond fire and police, along with Cascade Natural Gas, were called to the school shortly after 9 a.m.as school officials evacuated the school’s CTE (career-technical education) wing on the north side of the school when a smell was noticed that it was believed could be a natural gas leak, school district spokesman Rainier Butler said.

It didn’t take long for the gas crew to find it wasn’t a leak, and the smell was traced apparently to coming from old differential oil in the auto shop area.

The situation was resolved in 15 or 20 minutes at most, Butler said.