Crime & Safety

St. Denis School Evacuated After Boiler Spills Steam Through First Floor

No injuries reported. Fire department responds

St. Denis School was evacuated Friday after the school's boiler malfunctioned, spilling steam on the first floor.

In an announcement from the school, officials said all students were evacuated quickly and safely after a main steam line from the boiler became loose. The first floor hallway was flooded with steam.

The incident caused loud noises, and the steam gave the appearance of smoke spilling out of first floor windows from the building on Union and Virginia Avenue in Manasquan. With numerous fire trucks in the parking lot, the situation appeared worse than it was, wrote Rev. Ed Blanchett in the announcement.

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"It looked and sounded worse than it actually was, but we can certainly understand everyone's sensitivity to such events after these last few months. Our deepest thanks go to the teachers, parents and staff who made sure that the students were evacuated quickly and safely," he wrote.

The loose line was shut off, and the steam began to evaporate. The water left from the steam soon dried, and the maintenance room was tended to. Students and staff returned to class soon thereafter.

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"Despite the loud noises, what certainly appeared to be smoke coming from the windows on the first floor and the numerous fire trucks in the parking lot, it was soon determined that a main steam line leading to the boiler had let loose and quickly flooded the first floor hallway with steam. Once the line was shut off, the hall was quickly dried, the maintenance room was put back into place and normalcy soon returned," according to the school announcement. 

St. Denis School is expected to be open Monday.

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