MAY 7, 2015
LIGONIER, PENNSYLVANIA
Children fled classrooms, businesses closed their doors and
residents locked up and left Thursday morning when an 18-block area of Ligonier
was evacuated because natural gas leaked from a high-pressure line near West
Main Street, officials said.
The natural gas burst from the pipe with such force behind
Mack M. Darr Co. Inc., 320 W. Main St., that it was “blowing the branches 30
feet up in the air,” said Bill Stablein, owner of the plumbing and heating
business.
Employee Debbie Harr said she could hear the pressurized gas
“hissing and blowing” from inside the store. “Then we could smell the gas.”
Holy Trinity Catholic School was evacuated shortly after the
10 a.m. incident, and firefighters went door-to-door alerting people in other
buildings within 300 feet of the leak.
The evacuation zone was expanded to an 18-block radius when
emergency responders noticed gas had settled in low-lying areas, said fire
Chief Paul Church of Ligonier Volunteer Hose Company No. 1.
Church wasn't certain how many people were impacted because
some were at work. No injuries were reported.
Peoples Natural Gas Company spokesman Barry Kukovich said
crews were making routine repairs on the line along West Vincent Street when a
valve “snapped off.”
“The crews followed procedures and immediately notified 911.
We were able to shut off gas into that pipe about 10:30 a.m.,” Kukovich said.
Police Chief John Berger said residents were evacuated as a
precaution and were permitted to return to their homes around 12:30 p.m.
The “pop” and hissing sound of gas could be heard for
blocks, Church said.
The Rev. Paul Poerschke, pastor of St. James Evangelical
Lutheran Church at 308 W. Main St., said he and his daughter, Elise, were in
the parsonage around 10 a.m.
“We heard a hissing sound. ... It was very noticeable,” he
said. They realized it was natural gas when they went outside and detected an
odor.
While natural gas is odorless, an additive gives it an odor
of rotten eggs, Kukovich said. “That's what people were probably smelling.”
There was no issue with flames or gas migration, he said.
At Shear Design on West Main Street, some clients had
curlers and dye in their hair when firefighters showed up, owner Joy Pensiero
said.
“They said, ‘Don't touch anything, don't shut anything off,
just leave,' ” Pensiero said.
Stylist Doreene Robertson and a client who was having her
hair colored walked about a block to First National Bank so Robertson could
wash out the dye in a bathroom sink.
Holy Trinity students were taken to Ligonier Valley High
School. Parents were contacted so they could pick them up. Firefighters drove
other displaced people to the YMCA of Ligonier Valley.
Executive Director Larry Stormer said about 10 evacuees sat
drinking coffee in the lobby around 11 a.m., among them employees at a nearby
Chinese restaurant and an elderly couple who both use oxygen.
“We are an emergency evacuation center. We have space
available in these kinds of crises,” Stormer said.
Linda Miller said she was doing laundry in her apartment at
317 W. Main St. when an odor caught her attention.
“I could smell the gas, so I went outside,” she said.
Miller paused to close her neighbor's windows to protect her
dog and cat, then firefighters drove her to the YMCA.
Evacuees who chose to go elsewhere had to give firefighters
contact information so officials knew their whereabouts, Church said.
A few blocks from the leak, two Giant Eagle employees were
in the parking lot and heard the line pop, said manager Joe Shanefelter. About
100 customers and employees were in the store when firefighters ordered an
evacuation around 10:15.
“It was a calm evacuation,” Shanefelter said.
Employees walked to nearby Mellon Park, where managers took
a head count. Shanefelter and another manager, Kevin Korns, stayed behind to
stand watch in the parking lot, turning away customers and delivery trucks.
That was a close call folks. One spark and many people would have lost their lives and/or properties.
Source: http://triblive.com