Yesterday our neighborhood got a stark reminder as to why you should always call your gas, electric and or telephone company before you start digging in your yard …
At about 11 a.m. the sound of police, fire and ambulance sirens filled the air. Chris and I went outside and we were startled to see several police cars (maybe 6 in total) starting to block off the street across from us. Other police cars were also blocking off side streets a block or so away too. A moment or two later two firetrucks and an ambulance showed up and parked halfway down the street across from us.
Within minutes the streets were filled with concerned neighbors.
Chris walked across the street to talk to a few of the people who were standing on the sidewalk to see what happened.
It seems that one of the homeowners on the street across from us decided to dig up some tree roots. I don’t know if it was the roots of a dead tree or what, but when he was digging he hit the gas line!
So it was a gas leak that was causing all of the hubbub outside.
Chris and I could smell the gas outside too, so it was a pretty bad leak. I mean the house where the leak was is at least a full block away! No wonder the police were blocking off so many streets! The police were also going door to door to all of the houses on the street across from us and asking people to evacuate their homes.
About twenty to thirty minutes after all of the emergency vehicles arrived the first vehicle from the gas company arrived, then a little bit after that a big truck from the gas company came along. The men spent a few minutes gearing up and I noticed two of them with silver Zero Halliburton type briefcases. I’ll bet that their testing equiptment was in those cases.
Once the gas company arrived on the scene and inspected the area the firetrucks departed as did a few of the police cars. It didn’t take the gas company long to fix the leak – maybe 15 minutes? I was surprised at how fast they did the repair … or maybe they just shut off the gas to the house and came back later .. I’m not sure, but they weren’t there very long.
I’d say the street returned to normal within an hour or so. It was strange to see so many emergency vehicles descend so close to our house!
Anyway … let this post be a reminder to anyone that’s thinking of doing some landscaping or digging in their yard. Call the service companies (gas, phone and electric) before you dig so that you don’t end up blowing up your house or endangering your neighbors!
Reminds me of the time my son in law was helping his brother with a project, and knocked the power out in his subdivision. His sister in law was telling the neighbors why they were out of power It made for a tense situation. It’s funny now, but it sure wasn’t at the time
I do remember those commercials. It’s why I mentioned it to my father when he was planning to dig up our lawn. The spot that he wanted to start with, was directly on top of a gas line. Would have be very interesting had I not called to find out.
Thats a very serious thing that u have cautioned us about. People dont realize these and think that they are petty issues. but this can create havoc and threaten their lives.
Thanx for sharing this information with us.
FYI – there is a free national service you can call on 811 that alerts all the relevant utility companies out to mark the path of utility lines. They take about a week to respond, a little slow, but it avoids the visit from the Zero Halliburton briefcase men.