 Department Responds to Gas Leak (Pierre, SD) – May 24, 2002 – The Pierre Fire Department received a call shortly after noon today just as a number of the members were attending the monthly Board of Directors meeting at Station One.
Acting Pierre Fire Chief Russ Hendrix was command on this
incident. He said, “It is
important that anyone planning to do any digging contact the One-Call service
before beginning work. That will
prevent a hazardous situation from developing and reduce unnecessary emergency
response.” Once the utilities are
marked people digging in the area should observe precautions to avoid damage to
the utilities. Natural gas will ignite or explode when the right
concentration of the gas is exposed to an ignition source.
Pure natural gas has no odor but an “odorant” chemical is added to
the gas coming into the city so people will know of any gas leaks. The department was on the scene for approximately 25 minutes providing protection in the area until MDU was able to stop the flow of gas.
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A
contractor working on the construction of a new home in the Highlands Ridge
development tore open a gas line with a front-end loader.