hats off to fire dept and gas company

Thought I'd share our experience and the great service we received.
Last night around midnight we smelled gas in our house. We walked around, sniffing for the source, and the smell was strongest in the room adjacent to the outside gas meter. I went out and dug out the meter, and the smell was very strong there. At that point we called the fire dept non emergency line to ask what to do. Their answer was "get out of the house, and we'll be right there". Boy did they take it seriously. They showed up with at least 6 vehicles, in a parade that was literally over a block long. (Apologies to the neighbors along Vestals Gap who may have been woken by the flashing lights. At least they didn't use their sirens).

The fire department used their gas sniffer to check the entire house and the meter. They hauled in a huge fan to clear the gas out of the house, to make sure there was no leak from inside the house. They verified that the only source was the meter outside. Because the meter had been totally covered in snow, and the hole where the line enters the house was not sealed with putty, the leaking gas had no where else to go and worked it's way into the house. The firemen called the gas company, and one of the firemen stayed until the gas company arrived, to make sure our family was safe. The fire department was extremely professional through the entire process.

The repairman for the gas company was on the scene less than an hour after he was called. He had the worst job of all, working outside on the gas lines in the bitter cold in the middle of the night. He could not fully fix the problem, but he temporarily stopped the leak. Two more repairmen showed up at 10 AM this morning and fixed the problem in a half an hour. They then went through the house and helped make sure that every pilot light got lit and that everything on gas was working again.

So what could have been a huge problem became only an inconvenience. And it didn't even cost us a dime. Thanks to the FD and the gas company!

 

that's a great story! glad you all are okay.

 

Great story and happy it all worked out for you.

Hats off to our wonderful FD.

 

Yep. They don't mess around with gas leaks!

 

wonderful to here it was cleared up and good of you to be aware of the issue, rather than asleep.

 

This is the reason why you recieved to many pieces of equipment.

http://www.ntsb.gov/publictn/2001/PAR0101.pdf

After this incident they changed the protocol as to what type and how many engines / trucks show up. We keep gas trackers on all pieces but it is mainly the trucks/towers job to investigate leaks. Since the both the truck and tower are at station 6, but Broadlands is station 23's first due, you got the engines from both 23 and 6 and the tower from 6. Then they add in an the Battalion Chief for good measure and sometime an ambulance. Basically we respond as if the leak will ignite.

To say the least, gas leaks are taken very seriously.

Brewer.