Portland Fire and Rescue

Portland Fire & Rescue Respond to Substantial Natural Gas Leak

Portland Fire and Rescue

March 23, 2016 20:10

At around 1:30 PM today PF&R crews were called to SE 82ND Ave at SE Washington St. after a construction crew that was boring under the pavement struck a 4 inch Natural Gas Line causing a massive gas leak. Businesses and other civilians within a one block radius were evacuated from the area. Additionally, PGE was asked to shut down power immediately around the leak.
NW Natural crews had to dig into 82ND Ave on both sides of the leak and place temporary shut off valves in place in order to halt the flow of gas. The gas leak was stopped after flowing for nearly 5 and a half hours. PF&R crews stood by with hose lines deployed and ready for use while NW Natural Crews were working.

This situation had a couple of fortunate aspects that helped the overall safety of those around this leak. One, the leak was flowing directly up through a hole in the street and mixing out into the atmosphere. If the natural gas did not have this escape path then it could have traveled underground for quite some distance and potentially worked its way into surrounding businesses and homes. Two, there was a moderate wind blowing helping the gas disperse even more rapidly.

NW Natural crews will be working in that area well into the night as they will have to dig up a good portion of that intersection to replace the damaged pipe.

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