Fire crews safely vent building after 'extreme' gas leak


Save Story
Leer en español

Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

SALT LAKE CITY — Fire crews have responded to and successfully cleared an "extreme" gas leak at an abandoned building.

Fire crews responded to reports of a gas leak at 647 E. 100 South before 8 p.m. Tuesday.

"It had been reported to Questar that there was a smell of gas in the area. They came out and investigated, and figured out that it was in this building," Jasen Asay, spokesperson for Salt Lake City Fire Department said.

When fire crews arrived on scene, their hazmat teams were getting 100 percent readings on their gas meters, Asay said.

The gas was not combustible at a 100 percent concentration, but a risk of explosion was present between a 5 percent and 15 percent concentration mixed with 85 percent and 95 percent air, he explained.

Crews took extra precautions as they vented the building, especially when the concentration of gas reaches the point where it is at risk of combusting.

As of 10:10 p.m. Salt Lake fire reported on Twitter that the "gas has been shut off and the building has been completely vented." The department also reported that their crews will leave the scene as Questar crews begin to look for the cause of the leak.

Crews has closed 100 South between 600 East and 700 East to allow teams to work, but the roads were reopened as fire crews left the scene.

Asay said no surrounding buildings were evacuated, but residents were asked to stay inside.

"We have gone to neighboring buildings telling people to shelter in place — to not come outside. Right now, Questar has located the pipe leading into the building, dug a hole and is clamping it. Once that's done, the gas flow going into the building will stop, and then investigators will determine why the leak happened," Asay said.

Asay praised the residents who called to report the leak.

"Obviously, in this case, a 100 percent level inside the building is very high, very extreme, so we're grateful to the people who alerted us to this situation," he said. "If you smell gas, don't assume someone has already reported it. Go ahead and call."

Most recent Utah stories

Related topics

Utah
Sara Jarman and McKenzie Romero

    STAY IN THE KNOW

    Get informative articles and interesting stories delivered to your inbox weekly. Subscribe to the KSL.com Trending 5.
    By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

    KSL Weather Forecast