Seven people, including three teachers and a student, were rushed to Kingsport hospitals Thursday morning after a sewer gas smell lingered in the outdoor air during drop-off at Church Hill Elementary School. Four patients went to Holston Valley Medical Center and three were sent to Indian Path Community Hospital, both in Kingsport, as adults who had spent extended time outside the school began reporting nausea and other symptoms.
According to WATE 6 On Your Side, students and staff first noticed a gas smell in the outside air before school started, and adult staff exhibited minor nausea and other symptoms after remaining outdoors. Six adults and one student were transported to a nearby hospital for respiratory symptoms, per the station's report, and staff described the exposure as developing gradually rather than as a sudden event. Hawkins County Gas was called in to assess the situation, which Director of Schools Matt Hixson said stemmed from a sewer gas leak near Church Hill Elementary and the nearby Deerfield area.
The distinction between an internal gas leak and an off-site sewer gas source shaped how the district responded. An inspection ultimately determined the incident was a sewer gas leak located off-site, not an internal building hazard, which is why school leaders opted to keep students indoors rather than order an outdoor evacuation, as detailed by SuperTalk 92.9. Hixson said air quality inside Church Hill Elementary was reportedly normal even as symptoms surfaced among adults who had been stationed outside.
Why the Odor Made People Sick
Sewer gas is composed primarily of hydrogen sulfide, a toxic compound generated by decaying organic waste in municipal sewer systems, according to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. Even at low atmospheric concentrations, the chemical can trigger nausea, headaches, and respiratory irritation. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's medical management guidelines note that hydrogen sulfide exposure also causes olfactory fatigue, meaning the sense of smell dulls the longer a person breathes it in, making the odor an unreliable signal of how hazardous the air actually is over time. That distinction may help explain why staff working outdoor drop-off duty developed symptoms only after prolonged exposure, while the smell itself may not have worsened.
Once the symptoms appeared, Church Hill Elementary officials called in nurses to assist and kept students and staff indoors rather than risk further outdoor exposure. The school released students early Thursday out of an abundance of precaution, sending them home rather than continuing regular instruction. Because Tennessee's Public Chapter 103 has barred personal student cellphone use during instructional hours at Hawkins County Schools since July 2025 except in declared emergencies, families were directed to rely on official district communications about the early dismissal rather than messages from students themselves.
Hospitals Braced for Mass Casualty Response
Ballad Health's Kingsport facilities instructed staff to prepare for a mass casualty event as patients began arriving. Holston Valley Medical Center, a 505-bed regional hospital with a Level I trauma center, and Indian Path Community Hospital both sit roughly nine to eleven miles east of Church Hill, putting them within quick reach for the transports. Hawkins County Gas, a nonprofit utility district serving more than 8,500 residential and commercial customers across the county, conducted environmental air monitoring as part of the response.
Church Hill is the largest municipality located entirely within Hawkins County, with an estimated population of more than 7,300 residents along the Holston River near the Virginia state line. Church Hill Elementary, at 400 Old Stage Road, serves roughly 300 to 330 students in grades Pre-K through 4 and is one of 16 schools in a district led by Director of Schools Matt Hixson, who was named the First Tennessee Region's Superintendent of the Year in April 2024.
What triggered the off-site sewer gas accumulation near the school and the Deerfield area remains unclear, and it is not yet known whether municipal sewer lines will require repair as a result. District officials have not said when normal instruction will resume at Church Hill Elementary.
