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School of Dentistry evacuated, no one hurt following natural gas-line break

Published on Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Published in Press Releases on September 14, 2010

Contractors working on a new parking lot near the University of Mississippi Medical Center School of Dentistry building accidentally sliced into a 3-inch ASB plastic natural gas line this morning requiring evacuation of the building.

The incident happened at about 8:45 a.m. No one was hurt.

Emergency responders quickly shut off the gas-line valves. Contractors were repairing the break by 9:15 a.m. The line feeds the campus laundry facilities, where services will likely be interrupted throughout the day.

The dental school's HVAC system, which had pulled in the dispersing gas, was shut off. Emergency crews searched each of the building's five floors and scanned using gas-detection equipment before reopening the building at about 9:30 a.m.

The building includes classrooms, patient clinics, simulation clinics and research laboratories.