Residents of a Drake Avenue block in Lincolnwood were evacuated from their homes for hours earlier this month, after a subcontractor hit a natural gas line while digging and caused a gas leak, according to authorities.
At about 9:20 a.m. on June 11, Lincolnwood firefighters responded to a 911 call of a gas leak in the 6500 block of Drake Avenue. As a result, people who lived within a one-block radius were ordered to leave their home.
Fire Chief Barry Liss told Pioneer Press the leak was caused by a private subcontractor digging and striking a 2-inch high-pressure natural gas line.
Liss said that in situations like this, after arriving on the scene “we make sure no one is in danger, no one’s been hurt from the incident.”
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Firefighters had to pull a hose line for water to make sure that the expelling natural gas “[didn’t] ignite,” the fire chief said.
Residents for one square block in each direction of the leak were notified by emergency responders on the scene going door-to-door, and Lincolnwood officials posted about the gas main break on the village Facebook page.
There were no injuries or subsequent fire event during the response, according to authorities.
Liss said the response included the Lincolnwood Police Department helping with traffic flow and blocking intersections, the Public Works Department providing barriers and traffic horses to protect the perimeter, with workers from the Community Development Department on hand, including the building inspector.
He said fire crews triaged the scene and waited for Nicor Gas company to arrive and further take care of the situation.
“What we do is protect and form a curtain of water and make sure it doesn’t ignite until Nicor gets on scene. … They’re the experts,” the fire chief said.
Fire fighters didn’t look to mitigate the gas leak – nor to stop or plug it, Liss said.
The emergency responders waited for Nicor and looked to “assist them in any way we can,” Liss said.
According to Liss, Nicor Gas handled the repairs by sealing off each side of the break and then putting in replacement pipe, mitigating the leak in less than four hours, which allowed residents to return home before 1 p.m. without significant disruptions.
Nicor spokeswoman Jennifer Golz told Pioneer Press the utility company was on the scene about 30 minutes after being notified, stating the work the subcontractor was doing was unrelated to Nicor.
However, “Nicor Gas personnel completed repairs to the damaged facility that day and natural gas service was restored to affected customers,” she stated in an email.
The utility company continues to investigate the incident, Golz said, “and cannot comment on any subsequent actions until that investigation is complete.”
Liss said gas leak warning signs vary but smell usually is the No. 1 clue – even though natural gas is odorless.
“In this case you could hear it. It sometimes sounds like a jet engine because it is under that high pressure,” Liss said.
To give natural gas in the village a smell, Nicor adds a chemical called mercaptan.
“That’s what gives a rotten egg smell, a sulfur smell. The whole reason for that is so people can be alerted that something has leaked out to the environment,” Liss said.
Golz cautioned that anyone looking to dig should call 811 first as a precaution and to protect underground infrastructure. It was not immediately clear if the unnamed subcontractor in this case had made that inquiry.
“Contacting 811 is free and there is no cost to have underground utility lines marked. It’s also a law designed to help protect both customers and communities to ensure the underground infrastructure that powers our lives is not damaged and stays safe and connected,” she said.
Jessi Virtusio is a freelancer.