On Wednesday, Dec. 7, St. Regis student awoke to a surprise: school was cancelled for the day due to a propane issue. School Superintendent Joe Steele sent out an email that stated that the propane to the building had been shut off.

“There is not heat or propane to cook meals with. The problem should be resolved by the end of the day and school back in session on Thursday,” he announced.

According to Steele, on Tuesday night the valve, in line after the vaporizor on the propane system, froze up. This caused a blockage in the propane line, preventing it from getting to the building’s boilers. Without propane, the boilers shut down, causing the building to lose heat and the kitchen to also lose it’s propane.

He said Energy Partners were quick to send out a maintenance man who tested the system, checked the vaporizer for proper operation, and thawed out the line. He then wrapped the line in insulation and heat tape. These efforts got the system back in operation.

However, compounding the problem was a fire alarm system issue. The system had also shut down the propane into the building, as a safety measure. That problem was traced back to a faulty alarm. Once the alarm was replaced, the propane line cleared again, and everything came back online and is now working properly.

“The St. Regis School District would like to thank Ron Stortz, Stortz Electric, Kirby Smith, Energy Partners, John Pienciak, St. Regis Schools maintenance director, and Gary Strate, St. Regis Custodian, for their efforts and diligence in resolving this issue quickly and getting the school back open,” said Steele.

School resumed as scheduled on Thursday.