Contractor Damages Natural Gas Line in East Wenatchee
A natural gas leak occurred near the CMI Orchards facility in East Wenatchee about 4:15pm Wednesday afternoon.
The leak was caused when a contractor accidentally ruptured a four inch line while working on South Union Avenue between 2nd and 4th Street, according to Wenatchee Valley Fire Department.
Deputy Chief Andy Davidson says a natural gas leak can be dangerous but conditions were favorable.
"The wind was in our favor, temperature an humidity was in our favorfavor. Natural gas tends to rise. It was in a fairly rural area so we were abale to evacuate and close down and evacuate any sources of ignition at Columbia Fruit Packers and were were able to block the roads at Second, Union and Fourth to give a nice safety zone". Davidon said first responders were confident from the beginning of the incident there would be minimal impact to the public
The Douglas County Sheriff's Department, Washington State Patrol and Cascade Natural Gas also responded.
Davidson said the contractor had called the 811 "Call Before You Dig Line" but somehow missed the location of the gas line at the site.
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Gallery Credit: Jaime Skelton
Gas leak road damage
Gallery Credit: Randy Kirby