It was a hectic start to the week for Londoners in the city’s Glen Cairn neighbourhood after a natural gas leak, the result of a vehicle striking and damaging a home’s gas metre, temporarily forced the evacuation of several residences Monday morning.
Emergency personnel descended upon the scene in the 400 block of Vermont Crescent around 9:15 a.m.
“Someone operating a vehicle clipped the natural gas metre in a residential driveway. Not sure who the occupant of the vehicle was, but it was a very minor collision in general,” said London fire Platoon Chief Colin Shewell, noting there was no structural damage to the house itself.
The same, however, couldn’t be said for its gas metre.
“There was extensive damage to the metre, which sheared it off, and an abundance of gas was in the area when our fire crews arrived.”
Two nearby schools — C.C. Carrothers Public School and St. Sebastian Catholic Elementary School — were put under a shelter-in-place out of an abundance of caution. Both have since been lifted, spokespeople for the London District Catholic School Board and Thames Valley District School Board said.
Crews with Enbridge later arrived at the scene and shut the gas off, Shewell said.
“They determined that it was a branch line off two main lines, and they were able to segregate the lines by closing two valves off. Enbridge still remains on scene to do some service work as all the gas is shut off on that street,” he said around 11 a.m.
No injuries were reported and fire crews have since cleared from the scene. Those evacuated have been allowed to return to their homes.
Police say they are continuing to investigate.
— with files from Sawyer Bogdan
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