No gas found after Southern Boone High School evacuation

Fire officials in Ashland said they did not find any gas inside the high school after a student reported a smell.

Battalion Chief Colin Wright said it may have instead been the smell of mercaptan, the chemical added to natural gas to give it some odor, that got into the Southern Boone High School from an outside source. Wright said he was unsure of what that outside source was, but that the school district was working with Ameren on the issue.

Wright said a student at the school called them about the smell around 8:30 p.m. Monday. Crews evacuated the building, but gas level readings did not detect any explosive gas, Wright said.