Onondaga Hill, NY -- A contractor digging next to the Onondaga Hill fire station cut through a main gas line Monday afternoon, requiring nearby houses and a senior center to be evacuated. The Onondaga Senior Center and homes on Boyle Street were evacuated. An ambulance was called because one woman at the senior center could not go out into...
View full sizeWorkers from National Grid work to repair a 3-inch natural gas line to the Onondaga Hill fire station Monday evening. The line was accidentally cut by a contractor working on the firehouse earlier in the day.Onondaga Hill, NY -- A contractor digging next to the Onondaga Hill fire station cut through a main gas line Monday afternoon, requiring nearby houses and a senior center to be evacuated.
The Onondaga Senior Center and homes on Boyle Street were evacuated. An ambulance was called because one woman at the senior center could not go out into the humid afternoon air, said Onondaga Hill Fire Chief Dave Okoniewski.
Taunton and Fairmount firefighters were called to the scene. Onondaga Hill fire fighters could not respond because the gas was escaping into the air around the firehouse, making it impossible for fire fighters to reach their trucks or other gear.
Onondaga County sheriff's deputies blocked Velasko Road until the leak was fixed.
Okoniewski said there was no shut-off valve on the main line. He said that was common on modern commercial buildings.
Utility workers arrived and pinched off the line near the street, repaired where the line had been cut by a small backhoe and, shortly before 6 p.m. firefighters and contractors could return to the fire station.
Okoniewski said contractors were digging as part of a $1.4 million renovation of the fire station. The workers were digging, he said, in preparation for moving the gas line.
Contact Charles McChesney at cmcchesney@syracuse.com.