Just a few days after most of the Keene State College student body headed home for winter break, the city of Keene underwent an emergency situation. On Dec. 19, 2015, the State of Emergency Operations Center was activated. According to an article on WMUR, “Liberty Utilities officials said that the issue arose around 9 a.m. after the company’s propane production plant experienced an issue that affected the propane/air mixture flowing into the distribution system. Officials said the change in gas mixture may have resulted in the production of carbon monoxide at the gas appliance or burner tip in a home or business.”
It goes without saying that this situation was alarming to residents of Keene. The possibility of increased carbon monoxide levels in homes is concerning. The entire city of Keene was in danger of a gas scare and many students back home might not have been aware of this. Of course we are thankful nothing went terribly wrong and we are lucky that most of us were home away from the danger; however, there is a problem with this situation.
Photo Illustration By Tim Smith / Photo editor
As the largest state emergency response since pumpkinfest this was a big deal and something students should have some knowledge of. Many of the issues that affect our community and public safety have more of an impact on the student body than we think.
With the college being in the heart of Keene, right in the center of downtown, we are a large part of this community, whether we realize it or not. Just because something happens when we are on break doesn’t mean we should ignore what happened.
On a different note, we would like to question where the public oversight was in this situation. How was something like this even possible? We are fortunate that the city responded to the situation quickly and efficiently with Keene fire officials going door to door checking on Liberty Utility customers in the area.
If you haven’t done so already, follow local news sources on social media, click on the articles that pertain to Keene and the community, get involved with the local news, be aware of what’s going on where you live both at home and at school.
While silly buzzfeed articles about how to know if your boyfriend is the one for you and watching cute puppy videos make for good click bait, we are here to advocate for the voice of newspapers and other news sources.
To reiterate the point again, it is so important as students that we keep up with current events at both the local and national level. As members of society we need to educate ourselves because the more we know, the more of a difference we can make.
