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| 5/27/2009 12:49:00 PM | Email this article • Print this article |
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| Water is doused on homes to prevent damage during Tuesday night’s fire on Parker Street. A broken gas line was being welded when the fire started, lasting most of the night. Photo by Gary Nieter, Times-Union |
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Gas Leak Erupts
Jen Gibson
Times-Union Staff Writer
A potentially deadly situation was averted Tuesday afternoon when several emergency agencies came together to deal with a gas leak and fire.
Around 3 p.m. Tuesday, an excavating crew was digging on Parker Street when they hit a 50-pound gas line, causing a leak. It is not known if the gas line was marked.
A Warsaw police officer on patrol saw the leak and alerted the Warsaw Fire Department, which sent crews to the scene as a preventative measure.
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Since there was no way to isolate the gas line to turn it off at a valve, a worker was sent down the hole to weld and repair the pipe.
The welder was nearly finished with the repair around 6:38 p.m. when a spark ignited the gas, causing a fire.
"We were there before the gas ignited," said Warsaw Police Chief Mike Rice. "With the size of the gas line, we had the fire hoses down and ready to go just in case they were needed."
Workers were able to get out of the hole without incident.
According to Rice, fires at gas leaks do not happen very often, but the fire was not unexpected so crews were prepared.
Residents of eight homes in the surrounding area were evacuated until the direction of the wind and the flow of the gas were determined. After the assessment was made, the residents of all but three of the homes were allowed to return to their houses.
Once the fire started, homes in the danger area were doused with water to prevent them from catching fire. More than 488,000 gallons of water were used to save the homes.
None of the homes sustained fire damage; however, there was was some water damage to the homes.
The fire burned until about 2:38 a.m. this morning when NIPSCO crews out of Gary were able to patch the leak.
The crew from Gary was delayed because they were called to a gas leak caused by an auto accident. While waiting for them to arrive, those at the scene in Warsaw tried to contain the flame.
Twenty-two firemen from Warsaw worked the incident, and a 13-man crew from Winona Lake was called in to relieve exhausted Warsaw crews.
Kosciusko County Emergency Management Director Ed Rock arranged for shelter and lights at the scene of the leak, and the American Red Cross provided food and water for crews. Members of the Warsaw Waste Water department also assisted at the fire.
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