PEOPLE EVACUATED ON HAWTHORNE

Elyria – Residents of 43 & 47 Hawthorne were evacuated from their apartments Tuesday afternoon after someone discovered an old gas well had sprung a leak.

Elyria Firefighters were called to the apartments after a maintenance man found the well. Firefighters measured the levels of gas escaping the well and found them to be in the “explosive” range so they quickly made the decision to evacuate the apartments. Although the buildings usually house about two-dozen people but only 8 were home at the time.

Residents have been complaining about getting sick due to strange odors over the years so the maintenance man using a jackhammer searching for the source. He found the well and immediately contacted the Fire Department.

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources were called to oversee the securing of the well for good.

The owner of the building agreed to find hotel rooms for the 7 families that were told that they have to move out until the problem is resolved.


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