Three Danville schools were ordered to shelter in place after a natural gas odor was reported in the area, a San Ramon Valley Fire District spokeswoman said.

District spokeswoman Kimberly French said the fire district first received a call around 10:45 a.m. about a gas-like odor in an area between Sycamore Valley and Crow Canyon roads.

Students and staff at John F. Baldwin Elementary School, Sycamore Valley Elementary School and Charlotte Wood Middle School sheltered in place as a precaution until the source of the natural gas smell was located. The shelter in place order was lifted and cleared around 11:30 a.m., Sycamore Elementary staff said.

"The odor went away pretty quickly but we held in place till we got the all clear from the police department and PG&E," said Charlotte Wood Principal Chris George. "The important thing is everybody's safe and nobody was hurt."

No gas leak was found, but PG&E officials told the school district that the smell was from a gas cloud that posed no harm.

"We were guessing that PG&E may have vented a gas line...and the wind blew it," said Terry Koehne, SRVUSD community relations coordinator. "It seemingly started in San Ramon, blowing in a northeasterly direction."

Bay City News Service contributed to this article

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