Crews responded to a natural gas leak in Holladay on Friday, Sept. 14, 2018. Photo: Gephardt Daily/Steve Milner
Firefighters, gas workers cooperate to handle gas leak in Holladay, Utah
September 14, 2018
HOLLADAY, Utah, (Gephardt Daily) —
Fire department and gas company crews responded to the scene of a line break Friday morning.
A main natural gas line was broken by construction equipment in the area of 4500 South 2100 East. Nearby buildings were evacuated after the discovery.
“This morning, they had some construction work that was going on, doing some excavating work with a track hoe,” District Chief Duane Woolsey, Unified Fire Authority, told Gephardt Daily.
The operator damaged a gas main that measured about three inches, Woolsey said.
“So they evacuated the area, we got the fire department here,” he said. Several engines, including a HAZMAT engine, arrived at the scene.
Dominion Energy crews began searching for the leak, to shut it down.
“Normally, they can go upstream or downstream, pinch if off, this one was too big,” Woolsey said. The leak was shut off just after he said those words, at about 1 p.m.
In all, about a dozen firefighters helped with the operation, running tape to block off the scene, running gas sensor monitors and helping with evacuations, among other tasks. They also monitored gas in buildings, because a build up is possible.
Woolsey said gas is lighter than air, and Friday’s winds likely helped with dispersement. What people smell during a gas leak is mercaptan, a pungent gas that is heavier than air and that companies mix with natural gas.
The smell of mercaptan lingers on scene to alert people to a potentially dangerous natural gas leak.