Gas leak evacuates block

The houses in the 300 block of West Main Street were evacuated Monday night because of a gas leak at 320 W. Main, a two-story apartment complex. The leak was reported at about 7:30 p.m. by visitors in one of the apartments at the address.

Alliant Energy turned off power and gas to the residence. Power was restored later that night but the gas was left off while the leak is being investigated. The residents were allowed to return to their homes that night after the residence had been aired out.

The building is owned by Raph Gonshorowski. He said there are five apartments in the building. Gonshorowski said he didn?t know where the leak originated but he suspects it is from the copper line that connects the stove to the gas line in the apartment occupied by Travis Hartman. He said the copper line should be replaced with a plastic pipe. He said three of the five apartments in the building use gas. He said the building would be without hot water while the gas is turned off.

Washington Fire Chief Tom Wide said the neighboring houses were evacuated that night as a precaution in case the gas in the house ignited.

?There wasn?t a high concentration of gas, but it was enough to raise a red flag, which is why we went through the proper procedure,? he said. ?I don?t believe it was high enough to cause an explosion, but it?s better to err on the side of caution.?

Wide said all the houses within a one-block radius of 320 W. Main were evacuated, and that power was cut specifically to 320.

?We disconnected the power and the telephone line to reduce any chances of a spark,? he said.

Wide said the best way to prevent gas leaks is to periodically replace connections between the stove and the gas line.

?Those flexible connections get old and they will deteriorate, so you need to keep watch on those,? he said.

Gas companies purposely put an odor in gas to make it easier to detect leaks. Once gas has been detected, the safest thing to do is to leave the house. Wide said that, once the gas to the house is shut off, firefighters go into the house and open all the windows so the gas will dissipate.