A faulty valve on a natural gas meter outside a downtown business is being targeted as the cause of a natural gas leak Friday morning in Torrington.
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TORRINGTON – A faulty valve on a natural gas meter outside a downtown business is being targeted as the cause of a natural gas leak Friday morning in Torrington.
Laurie Farkas, public relations spokesperson for Black Hills Energy of Cheyenne, said a crew performing “routine maintenance” were attempting to make repairs in the alley behind San Pedro Mexican Restaurant in the 2100 block of Main Street when the leak started.
“There was an issue with the valve,” Farkas said. The crew “noticed the valve was not functioning properly and needed to be replaced.”
Torrington fire and police were dispatched to the scene, along with Goshen County Emergency Management director Shelly Kirchhefer. TVFD Captain Jeff Schick initially ordered a mandatory evacuation of a two-block area surrounding the leak through the city’s Code Red alert system, notifying surrounding businesses to evacuate the area as a precaution.
“When gas is spewing out of that line, if it connects with (a source of) ignition, you can have an explosion,” Kirchhefer said. “Luckily, that didn’t happen.”
The order “started out with a two-block radius, then I shrunk it down to the one block between 21st and 22nd” avenues, Schick said. “We wanted to make sure the gas wasn’t building up inside those structures, wanted to keep everyone safe.”
TVFD firefighters stopped the initial leak by clamping the old valve in place as a temporary measure, Schick said. Then it came down to waiting for a Black Hills Energy repair crew from the Guernsey area to arrive to affect more permanent repairs, Farkas said.
According to Farkas, only three or four people from San Pedro were actually evacuated during the incident, which also cut natural gas service to the restaurant for a short time.
After the leak was halted, fire crews went through the buildings in the immediate area, paying particular attention to the basements, to be sure there was no buildup of natural gas, which is heavier that air and tends to seek out low-lying areas to accumulate, Schick said.
Repair work was expected to be completed by early Friday afternoon, Farkas said.
