10:40 AM Saturday the SCFD was dispatched to the area of A St to E St around College Ave do to multiple reports of a strong smell of gas. Within minutes SCFD confirmed and PNM was called. By aroud noon the leak was located on A St and in the meantime an evacuation was ordered from 6th to 10th Sts and from A to D and a Command Center was set up at the WNMU Police Department and the evacuation center at the convention center was opened.
I arrived around 1:15 PM and could freely drive around the evacuation area except for 1 block of A, B and C streets were blocked from College to 8th but not 8th nor College but not any other streets. I headed to the command center and found the SCPD Chief, Chief of investigations and a few what looked like homeland security. As I entered the WNMU Police Dept the doors to the inner offices were quickly closed leaving me with a busy FD incident commander and a cop on his cell phone. originally the evacuation was scheduled to last 8 hours then it was reduced to 6 hours then within minuted was change to 2 hours then all was cancelled. What brought out all the top brass and the Feds? A few days ago there was a training class for just this scenario and this opportune incident was a practical exercise.
But it gets better: and dangerous. Earlier in the morning the Town sewer crew was called out to clear a sewer backup on that very section. When A street was dug up they found that when the 8 inch gas line was installed many years ago, to cross the street with the gas line they found the sewer in the way so they drilled a hole trough the sewer and ran their pipe through it. When the sewer crew ran their snake they encountered resistance but persisted and cut the gas line in half. Did the gas company reroute the gas line and patch the sewer line? I couldn't tell for sure but it didn't look like it. It is now up to the Town to force an answer and proof. How many more situations are like this around own?
Posted: Wed Feb 21, 2018 2:11 am 
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