More heavy snow Tahoe-bound; gas leak evacuates school

RENO, Nev. (AP) — Heavy snow may have contributed to a natural gas leak that forced the evacuation Tuesday of a Nevada high school at Lake Tahoe, where more than 50 feet (15 meters) of snow has fallen this winter atop area ski resorts and more is on the way.

Incline High School was evacuated after emergency crews responding to reports of the smell of gas found no sign of it in the building, but detected high levels in the snow on the roof, the North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District said in a statement.

The school on Tahoe’s north shore in Incline Village said on it’s Facebook site late Tuesday that after the gas was shut off it took crews nine hours to dig a 4-foot-deep (1.2-meter-deep) trench through the snow to find the leak and repair it .

Classes were scheduled to resume on Wednesday, when 1 to 3 feet (30 to 90 cm) of new snow was possible in the upper elevations of the surrounding mountains along the California-Nevada line about 35 mile (56 kilometers) southwest of Reno, the National Weather Service said.

The fire district said it has responded to an exceptionally high number of calls this winter about gas leaks and carbon monoxide alarms. It said natural gas can remain trapped at high levels inside the snowpack.

This winter already ranks among the Sierra’s snowiest in a half century. Ski resorts plan to remain open at least until Memorial Day.