Odor causes evacuations, closings to multiple locations; no gas leak detected
May 6—ASHLAND — An odorant that engulfed areas of northeastern Kentucky counties was not from a natural gas leak, Boyd County officials said.
Reports of a gas-like odor prompted numerous calls to area emergency services from Ironton to Russell to Ashland on Monday afternoon, where more than a dozen retail shops and local businesses were recommended to evacuate due to an odor, Ashland Fire Chief Steve Alley said.
The Ashland Fire Department began receiving calls along Greenup Avenue at about 3:20 p.m. pertaining to a smell of natural gas inside buildings in the downtown area, he said.
"We did not obtain any readings in the 30-some areas and occupancies that we went into. We did have a strong smell of natural gas which is a product called Mercaptan," Chief Alley said. "We got a hold of Emergency Management who in turn checked with CSX and the waterway carriers to see if any substance had come through here that would have caused that type of odor.
"This could have been a release of Mercaptan, which is the odorant used with natural gas to detect the presence of the gas. This could have occurred through roadway transport of that material through our area," Alley added.
Columbia Gas crews assisted AFD in investigating the calls. Those crews also didn't detect any readings of the substance, Alley said. More than two dozen structures were checked by 5 p.m. with no readings of natural gas found in them, he said.
"Occupants were advised to evacuate, as a precaution, whenever calls were received reporting a natural gas leak. The Ashland Town Center, Walmart and several other businesses were affected by this. All buildings have been cleared and occupants have been permitted to re-enter them at this time," Alley said in a press release on Facebook on Monday evening.
"At this time, no source has been identified that caused the odor," Alley added.
Evacuations for those reporting the smell to authorities was standard procedure, he said.
"Any time we have a call like that, the residents are advised to evacuate the structure. Once we arrived on scene it was a matter of walking through with our meters to see if we are picking up any readings on natural gas," he said.
"They should definitely call any time they have a smell of natural gas or suspect a gas leak," Alley said. "Early detection and evacuation of the area is paramount to their safety. Call 911 and be sure to get help on the way so we can come check."
(606) 326-2657 — ajohnson@dailyindependent.com
