At 10:37 this morning, B-Shift responded to an odor of natural gas near a residence on West King Street. Upon arrival, crews found a two inch gas line that had been struck by machinery used to install fiber optic lines. Dominion Energy arrived on scene and quickly began digging up the line and valves to shut off the flow of gas. Fire crews evacuated residences closest to the leak as a precaution and then began air monitoring to determine where the gas had migrated to and how far away from the leak was there concern for ignition. Orange County Emergency Services sent out OC Alerts to notify people in the area. Meters detected gas in the storm drains and sewer lines around the impacted area. The perimeter was extended to prevent vehicles from driving through the gas vapor and air monitoring continued. Dominion Energy stopped the leak and began the repair process. Fire crews continued to monitor and ventilate the storm drain system and sewer lines to homes. Orange County Emergency Services sent out updates to the previous OC Alerts. All readings of gas were reduced to safe levels so fire units were cleared from the area. Dominion Energy remains at the intersection of Occaneechi Street and King Street repairing their lines so please use caution in that area. We thank the public for their understanding and cooperation when situations like these occur. Neither the town, county, fire department nor Dominion Energy created the hazard but were tasked to protect the citizens and the properties near the leak. The coordinated efforts of local government, the fire department and Dominion Energy significantly reduced the hazards to which our citizens were exposed by sending out notifications, constantly monitoring the air and controlling the leak in a timely manner. If you have questions about this or any other item related to the fire department, don't hesitate to drop by the station. If you've not signed up for OC Alerts, please do so as that's the only way we truly have to get timely notifications out to the public 24/7. You can sign up here: https://member.everbridge.net/453003085611768/login
