nothin Gas Leak Forces Evacuation | New Haven Independent

Gas Leak Forces Evacuation

(Updated) Officials are investigating a gas leak that forced a 96-year-old woman out of her home Tuesday morning.

The incident took place at 117 Townsend Ave., a single-family home in the East Shore.

A neighbor smelled gas Tuesday morning and alerted authorities, according to Sgt. Vincent Anastasio, East Shore’s top cop.

Southern Connecticut Gas Company (SCG) responded and called in the fire department at about 9 a.m., according to Assistant Fire Chief Ralph Black. SCG found a high concentration of gas” inside the house, amounting to over 4 percent of the air.

That meant the gas was flammable and an electric spark could cause ignition, Black said. United Illuminating shut off electricity to the house, he said. SGC shut off the gas lines on the whole block.

Firefighters evacuated one home, 117 Townsend, Black said. He said a woman who lives there, who’s 96, was alert and conscious” when firefighters found her. She was taken to the hospital as a precaution.

Black said firefighters ventilated her home by throwing open the windows. They did the same thing at two adjacent homes, which were empty at the time.

As of 11 a.m., the gas levels had gone back down to zero, according to Black.

SCG and the city fire department are investigating the cause of the leak, according to Southern Connecticut Gas Co. spokeswoman Heather Halotek.

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