“This decision was made because a very pungent odour, which smelled like a possible gas leak, was permeating the building,” said an e-mail sent to parents by principal Louie Scigliano.

The Saanich Fire Department arrived promptly and shut off the gas “just to be on the safe side,” said battalion chief Dave Bury. Gas company Fortis B.C. sent out a message through Twitter at 3:28 p.m. to advise that no gas leak was detected.

“After a thorough inspection of the school, the fire department, along with our school district’s mechanical/plumbing foreman, determined there was not a gas leak at the school,” Scigliano wrote, adding a possible explanation was an atmospheric “thermal inversion,” that enabled the smell to travel from a pulp and paper mill. — Times Colonist

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