HURRICANE, Utah, June 16, 2022 (Gephardt Daily) — Hurricane Valley Fire & Rescue crews rushed to the scene of a gas and sewage leak Thursday, and helped evacuate residents from the area.
The accident was dispatched at 8:35 a.m., and crews responded to 416 N. Main St., the location of Hurricane Health and Rehabilitation, a nursing home and rehabilitation center.
“A contractor was digging and hit a natural gas line, and it just created (a problem) to where we had to evacuate a couple of businesses,” Deputy Fire Chief Joe Decker, Hurricane Valley Fire & Rescue, told Gephardt Daily.
The pipes damaged were a 11⁄2 inch gas line and a 4-inch sewer line. The ruptures caused the gas line to emit free flowing natural gas and the sewer line to leak sewage.
“The first arriving fire company quickly sheltered the occupants of Hurricane Health and Rehabilitation in place preventing the natural gas from entering the building and deployed hose lines in the event fire suppression support would be required,” says a statement issued by the department.
“Hurricane City Police and Utah Department of Transportation assisted with detouring traffic on State Street (SR-9) away from the emergency scene. Other surrounding structures were also monitored for the presence of natural gas.”
School buses from the Washington County School District and Valley Charter Academy were requested to assist with evacuations due to the length of time it took to stop the flow of natural gas, the statement says. Evacuees were transported to the Hurricane City Recreation Center where they were assisted by Hurricane Valley Fire medical and Hurricane City Recreation personnel.
The gas line was accessed and gas flow stopped at 10:18 a.m.
The residents of Hurricane Health and Rehabilitation were allowed to return to their rooms once Questar and fire crews determined each room was safe to enter, the Hurricane Valley Fire & Rescue statement.
Ash Creek Special Services District assisted with free-flowing sewage from the building’s damaged sewer line allowing Questar crews to safely restore the natural gas to the building, it said.
“There were no injuries resulting from the gas leak. Damage was limited to the gas and sewer lines,” the Hurricane Valley Fire & Rescue statement says.
It also thanked agencies that assisted, including Hurricane Valley Fire SSD, Hurricane City Police, Hurricane City Recreation, Ash Creek Special Service District, Utah Department of Transportation and Questar Gas.
