GAS MAIN BREAK IN AMHERST
SEVERAL HOMES EVACUATED
TMC NEWS PHOTOS / BRIAN WOODSCall Time: 10:07 a.m. Monday August 3, 2009
Amherst – While Firefighters were finishing up on the Turnpike they received a call of a gas main break just a couple blocks away on Sleepy Hollow near Westchester Dr.
Assistant Chief Jim Wilhelm of the Amherst Fire Department said when he got word of the call he sent two of the mutual aid Departments, Elyria Township and Oberlin, to check it out. “They discovered that it was a medium pressure leak that they had dug through while fixing the road.”
Wilhelm said that parts of the neighborhood had to be evacuated due to the leak. “The wind was blowing out of the southwest and that did get into a few houses that had their windows open. There was no LEL (Lower Explosive Limit) but it had a pretty bad odor so Officers from the Amherst Police Department along with Firefighters a couple of the houses were evacuated.”
Once Amherst terminated command on the Turnpike, Wilhelm and the Department’s Safety Director responded to the leak. “We were on scene for about 30 minutes before the gas company arrived – once they did we performed a perimeter check, they shut the gas line off and then we turned it over to them and everybody went home.”
Wilhelm said that the City had contracted with the company, A. Bonamase, to do roadwork in that area. “I checked their work ticket and the gas line was up higher then it was actually suppose to be. The gas company guy said they hog those things under the road and there’s no telling if they hit a rock if they are going to go up or down. So there’s no real way of telling how deep it really could be but it’s suppose to be a minimum of, I think, 40 to 42 inches and it was only down about 15 to 18 inches but it wasn’t marked by oops (call before you dig) – this is one that they missed.”
Wilhelm said that there were no reported injuries as a result of the leak.
Amherst – While Firefighters were finishing up on the Turnpike they received a call of a gas main break just a couple blocks away on Sleepy Hollow near Westchester Dr.
Assistant Chief Jim Wilhelm of the Amherst Fire Department said when he got word of the call he sent two of the mutual aid Departments, Elyria Township and Oberlin, to check it out. “They discovered that it was a medium pressure leak that they had dug through while fixing the road.”
Wilhelm said that parts of the neighborhood had to be evacuated due to the leak. “The wind was blowing out of the southwest and that did get into a few houses that had their windows open. There was no LEL (Lower Explosive Limit) but it had a pretty bad odor so Officers from the Amherst Police Department along with Firefighters a couple of the houses were evacuated.”
Once Amherst terminated command on the Turnpike, Wilhelm and the Department’s Safety Director responded to the leak. “We were on scene for about 30 minutes before the gas company arrived – once they did we performed a perimeter check, they shut the gas line off and then we turned it over to them and everybody went home.”
Wilhelm said that the City had contracted with the company, A. Bonamase, to do roadwork in that area. “I checked their work ticket and the gas line was up higher then it was actually suppose to be. The gas company guy said they hog those things under the road and there’s no telling if they hit a rock if they are going to go up or down. So there’s no real way of telling how deep it really could be but it’s suppose to be a minimum of, I think, 40 to 42 inches and it was only down about 15 to 18 inches but it wasn’t marked by oops (call before you dig) – this is one that they missed.”
Wilhelm said that there were no reported injuries as a result of the leak.
PHOTO GALLERY
posted by TMC NEWS at 2:28 PM
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