Evacuation after suspected gas leak near Chemistry Building
Gabriella McKenna, News Editor/ GAZETTE
Firefighters, Western special constables and Facilities Management staff outside Chemistry building on Perth Drive, Feb. 25, 2025. Adshayah Sathiaseelan / GAZETTE
Students, staff and faculty were evacuated from the Chemistry Building and Biological and Geological Science Building following a suspected gas leak Tuesday afternoon.
Western Special Constable Services alerted some students about the suspected gas leak at the Chemistry Building area at 1:35 p.m. Tuesday through AlertWesternU, advising them to evacuate or stay away from the area.
The London Police Service confirmed to the Gazette around 2:05 p.m. Tuesday that London police officers were dispatched to the scene to assist the London Fire Department.
Perth Drive was blocked to traffic between the Western Interdisciplinary Research Building and Delaware Hall with London fire trucks, Western Fire Safety officials as well as London and Western University special constables seen along the road.
Jordan Bentley, a postdoctoral student in the Chemistry department, said he noticed the leak while working in one of the building’s labs.
“I thought I was hallucinating something, but I went out in the hallway, and it was extra pungent,” adding that he and the other students in the lab left after receiving the evacuation email.
London Police told students they could re-enter the building around 2:10 p.m.. At 2:16 p.m., WSCS sent a second public safety incident notification to Western community members that the London Fire Department had issued an all-clear for the suspected gas leak.
