MERRIMACK – After discovering a gas leak outside the Merrimack YMCA on Wednesday morning, staff and patrons quickly evacuated the building, with children seeking shelter at the public charter school nearby.

The incident was apparently caused by falling snow, according to the YMCA.

“We had some snow come off the roof and knock off a regulator on a gas meter outside the building,” said Mike LaChance, CEO of the YMCA of Greater Nashua.

The evacuation took place around 9 a.m.

LaChance said staff members immediately notified emergency services, and that Liberty Utility was also on the site right away, with utilities personnel fixing the problem in about an hour.

“The children who were in the building were evacuated next door,” LaChance said, referring to the Gate City Charter School for the Arts, a K-8 school located across the street from the YMCA on Henry Clay Drive.

“The Gate City staff and students were wonderful in accepting us. As neighbors, we try to help each other out, and we have had a good relationship with Gate City since they moved in.”

“It was our pleasure to help our neighbors at the YMCA during their time of need, as we know they would do the same for Gate City Charter School if we were to have a similar emergency,” said Karin Cevasco, director of the Gate City Charter School.

MaryAnn McHugh sent a note to The Telegraph praising the charter school for welcoming evacuees.

“The director did not hesitate and said, ‘Bring them right over.’ The small school took in around 200 young children while the gas leak was being taken care of,” she said.

The YMCA reopened Wednesday morning, LaChance said.

“The facility reopened a couple of hours later,” he said. “The Fire Department made the decision.”

LaChance said it was a best-case scenario for an emergency.

“Kudos and thank you to everyone at Gate City Charter School, the Merrimack Fire Department, Liberty Utilities and our people here in the building,” he said. “The fire alarm was pulled right away, and the evacuation was all done in an orderly fashion with no injuries, no issues.”

Cevasco said the school hosted the YMCA day care infants, children and staff in the school’s “great room” and library for about an hour and a half.

“Some of our eighth-grade students led a singalong,” she said. “We put out crayons and mural paper for the preschoolers, and ran videos on the TV.”

Cevasco said the YMCA has been a good neighbor for them, as well.

“The collaboration between our two organizations has proven to be a strong example of community,” she said.

Tina Forbes can be reached at 594-1246, tforbes@nashuatelegraph.com or @Telegraph_ TinaF.