Franklincountynow.com Staff Report
(Turners Falls, MA) — The situation is under control at Turners Falls High School/Great Falls Middle School after fire crews were called to the building this morning for an unidentified odor. The call came in at 7:38 Thursday morning, according to Turners Falls Fire Chief John Zellman. The odor was coming from the science classrooms in the middle school part of the building. Gas meters from Turners Falls Fire and Berkshire Gas recorded no gas leak, at which point Zellman called for a Tier 1 State Hazardous Materials Response.
“They metered it, and we narrowed it down to the drains in the classrooms.” said Zellman. “We are assuming the odors are from the building being empty for so long, and now that it’s being used again, the odors are coming up from (those drains).”
Zellman noted that this was not a dangerous situation, and that the school would have the drains cleaned and flushed out. Both schools were closed today, with all learning taking place remotely. It is not known if the schools will be open on Friday.