PEORIA, Ill. — Several homes had to be evacuated by Peoria Firefighters Wednesday afternoon due to risk of explosion.
Fire crews were called at approximately 3:25 p.m. to the 1100 block of N. University on reports of a major gas leak.
Battalion Chief Steve Rada says the leak was so severe that the gas could be smelled from the houses adjacent to the house with the leak.
“The residence next door smelled gas in their home, and they called the property owner,” said Rada.
“We were really concerned that this could be a really severe possibility that, if we don’t do everything right, there could be a potential explosion.”
Because of the danger presented by the situation, University was shut down when firefighters arrived until 4:45 p.m. between Main St. and Columbia Terrace.
Firefighters used air monitoring equipment to measure the explosive limit of the gas. No emergency personnel were allowed in the house until the explosion potential decreased, according to Rada.
Before fire crews arrived, Ameren arrived on scene to shut off gas and power supply to the house.
Ameren remained on scene after firefighters used positive pressure fans to vent the gas out of the residence to determine where the leak was located within the residence.
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