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Permalink Reply by Nenad on March 22, 2011 at 7:15am

First is to turn off all electricity (no matter if the leak is confirmed or not). Create a safe radius (evacuate if there is need). Ventilate. Find the source of leaking. Stop the leaking.

In one FD they had a gas leaking in an apartment. They turned off electricity and entered the apartment for ventilation. In one moment there was an explosion. Two FF in the room suffered minor injuries. One FF stood on the doorway, and he was blast off to the opposite wall - he died from injuries. Never underestimate the danger.

We had last year water leaking from 100 year old gas tank with floating roof. It was half full with city-gas (very nasty gas mixture). After 3 day operation of surveillance and filling with N2 the operation of crack welding started. The city gas company couldn't stop and empty the tank due many reasons. First - roof collapse danger, second - no gas for long period to whole city, third - no backup if the gas production stops and so on...

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Permalink Reply by Eric Gregory on March 22, 2011 at 12:09pm

If I heard dispatch call out a gas leak in an automotive shop the first thing I'd want to know is Gasoline or are we talking about something like natural gas or propane. There would be some differences in the response based on the answer to that question.

I'm still learning but one thing I've seen too much of is dispatch gets and then gives incomplete or incorrect information. Sometimes getting the correct info is not easy because either the caller has hung up or is unable to articulate what you need to know.

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Permalink Reply by Captain William Frazer on March 22, 2011 at 1:12pm

Light a cigarette....
(did i say that out loud?)

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Permalink Reply by Captain William Frazer on March 22, 2011 at 8:06pm

Being serious for a minute lol,,Would determine the type of gas, from dispatch I hope, if gasoline, assure the immediate area is clear of people, assess the amount of fuel leaking, and do a meter reading to see what the LELs are. Ventilate the building if its inside, and see if its something we can handle as far as containment to a tub or something. Gasoline has a low LEL, so hopefully a good ventilation will take care of any flash threats.
If its propane or NG, pretty much would do the same thing, shut off the supply and contact the local gas utility Co to come out and take care of the issue from there. If the LELs were a continuous threat, then I would have power shut down to the structure. If there were no appliances running at the time, shutting off the service breaker to the shop after a meter reading would be a good idea as well.

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Permalink Reply by Fireman Larry on March 22, 2011 at 8:52pm

I love the answers so far. I myself, would confirm it to be a Gas leak or a Fuel leak from an automobile. If it's gas, on arrival, turn off the gas at the meter, open some doors and ventilate, call the gas company. Though of course, if it's a fuel leak, from an automobile, we probably wouldn't of been called, until after the fire started...

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Permalink Reply by Ben Waller on March 22, 2011 at 10:07pm

If you turn off the electricity, don't do it from inside or near the structure.
Just turning off a light switch can create a spark that can be an ignition source.

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Permalink Reply by Roy Walker on March 23, 2011 at 2:14am

Larry is right on that matter if it is an auto shop with a gas leak we wouldnt get called. I am a mechanic with more years of experience than I care to remember. We deal with gasolinec leaks so often that we get complacent.
Another point is that those big overhead shop doors make an excellent source of ventilation just remember they are electric and must be opened manually

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