Reports of a gas smell at Lone Star College-Houston North's Fallbrook campus sent students and staff out of the building Thursday afternoon, as campus police ordered an evacuation that officials emphasized was not a drill. The campus was later given the all-clear, and no injuries were reported.
According to KHOU, Lone Star College Police instructed everyone inside the LSC-Houston North Fallbrook building to evacuate calmly and move away from the structure. The department later issued an "all clear" for the campus. KHOU noted that no additional details were provided in the initial update.
Where it happened
The LSC-Houston North Fallbrook campus sits off Walters Road north of Spears in north Houston, serving neighborhoods just above Beltway 8. Lone Star College board minutes list the Fallbrook site as 12750 Walters Road in Houston, a detail confirmed in documents posted on BoardBook.
College emergency systems and safety teams
Lone Star College's Environmental Health and Life Safety office oversees fire and chemical-safety planning and works with campus police and local emergency responders during incidents, according to Lone Star College. The college states that students and employees are automatically enrolled in its LoneStarCollegeAlert notification system through their LoneStar.edu email addresses, and that public address announcements and social media are used to push out emergency instructions. School guidance urges people to follow on-site directions and official alerts until authorities confirm it is safe to return.
Previous alerts at Lone Star
Evacuations for potential threats are not new to the college system. The Houston Chronicle reported that the University Park campus was cleared in September after a bomb threat, with officials at that time also underscoring that "this is not a drill." That pattern has made fast, campuswide messaging part of the routine for many students and staff.
KHOU reported that no further information on Thursday's gas-odor incident was immediately available. Lone Star College had not posted an additional update on its website by early Thursday evening.
