Gas leak prompts evacuations

AARON LEO
ConnPost Article Last Updated: 08/22/2008 01:00:56 AM EDT

BRIDGEPORT — Construction workers ruptured a natural gas main at Fairfield Avenue near Ellsworth Street Thursday night, closing down the road for nearly two hours and snarling both automobile and train traffic.

The leak, from a plastic pipe six inches in diameter, was reported at 7:55 p.m., and the Southern Connecticut Gas Co. shut off the flow about 9:30 p.m., said Fire Capt. Luis Rivera, department spokesman.

Homes and businesses around the site, including the Burroughs Community Center, were evacuated as firefighters sprayed a mist of water to prevent ignition of the high-pressure gas hissing from the pipe. The rotten-egg smell of the gas drifted everywhere as the wind shifted Thursday night. Natural gas is odorless and invisible, so the gas company adds a smell to it.

The smell is what Martha Larrea and several other people sitting on the sidewalk near the site recalled, as well as being evacuated.

Firefighters ran inside and ordered them out.

"They said, 'Leave. There's been a gas leak,' " Larrea said. "The smell was very heavy."

About 15 people, including children, had to leave the building, she said.

Assistant Fire Chief Chris Martin and Rivera didn't immediately know how many people were forced outside by the leak. But the evacuation from Burroughs center was the largest, Martin said. Krauszer's and Dunkin' Donuts were also emptied, Martin added.

But everyone returned to their homes by 10 p.m., Martin said.

The gas and construction companies were trying to determine late Thursday if the pipe's location was properly marked, he added.

The site wasn't far from another leak last October caused by construction of the 345-kilovolt power lines from Middletown to Norwalk.

At least 700 commuters fell victim to Thursday's leak.

Metro-North spokesman Dan Brucker said the city Fire Department called the Operations Control Center at Grand Central Terminal at 8:43 p.m. reporting the break. Trains were then shut down between New Haven and Greens Farms in Westport.

He said the trains were stopped because firefighters were concerned that sparks from the overhead wires could ignite the gas.

Even diesel-powered trains weren't allowed to run because of possible sparks from the steel wheels and the steel tracks, Brucker said.

The site of the gas leak is located just across Ash Creek from the railroad tracks, and the shutdown was a precaution, Martin said.

But the commuters weren't stranded.

"We stopped them by train stations so that customers could detrain," Brucker said.

Meanwhile, after the gas was shut off, the manager of Ruby's II exotic dance club, a business near the site, was visibly angry. Standing outside, he said the leak hurt business. The club didn't have to be evacuated.