Gas line break causes stir on Main Street; Firefighters clear area during fix

By Adam Rollins, Record Staff Writer

Posted 11/7/19

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Gas line break causes stir on Main Street; Firefighters clear area during fix

Posted Thursday, November 7, 2019 3:48 pm

By Adam Rollins, Record Staff Writer

Fire trucks and police cruisers surrounded the former Stewart’s Drug building in downtown Warrenton Thursday because of a gas leak behind the structure.Warrenton Fire Chief Mike Owenby said a city maintenance crew using a backhoe to dig a trench for an electric line at the site accidentally ruptured a 2-inch natural gas main. A cloud of fumes was visibly spraying from the line and the odor of gas was detectable from a distance.Owenby said favorable weather and the properties of natural gas helped disperse the vapors without putting anyone in danger.“Fortunately, we had enough wind in the right direction, pushing it away from the businesses,” Owenby said. “Natural gas is lighter than air, so when it comes out it wants to go up.”The worst that could have happened is that the gas could have ignited at the source of the leak and ruined the city equipment parked next to it.The report of the gas leak was received at 11:25 a.m. Firefighters and police blocked the area and began monitoring for dangerous gas levels, while an Ameren crew dug down and clamped the pipe on both sides of the leak, Owenby said. He explained that shutting the gas main off at the nearest valve would have cut off service to many downtown buildings.Firefighters cleared the site at 1:10 a.m.Workers are in the process of converting the former Stewart’s Drug building at the site into a new downtown winery venue, but Owenby said that project had nothing to do with the gas leak.“They were putting in electric service for the fall festival,” he said.The city plans to expand the number of electrical outlets available for vendor booths at Warrenton’s annual fall festival on Main Street. This year’s fall festival is Sept. 23.

Natural gas is visible emanating from a broken gas main behind the former Stewart's Drug building in downtown Washington. Emergency responders blocked the site for more than an hour while an Ameren crew shut off the line. Record photo/ Adam Rollins.

Gas line break causes stir on Main Street; Firefighters clear area during fix

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Gas line break causes stir on Main Street; Firefighters clear area during fix

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Gas line break causes stir on Main Street; Firefighters clear area during fix