East 19th Avenue was shut down between Emerald and Onyx streets for more than an hour on Thursday evening while the Eugene Fire Department investigated a report of a gas leak underneath an apartment building.
The cause of the odor was found to be a pressure washer that tipped over in a ground-floor storage unit and spilled about two thirds of its two gallon gasoline tank.
Two fire trucks, at least three police cars and Eugene’s Hazardous Materials Team (HazMat) – almost half of Eugene’s fire fighting strength – was dispatched to the scene, said Craig Callicotte, district chief of the Eugene Fire Department.
“We take it quite seriously,” Callicotte said.
A resident of the light blue, 10-unit apartment complex called 9-11 to report smelling gasoline at roughly 6:30 p.m., Callicotte said. EFD and HazMat arrived, evacuated the building and conducted sweeps around the property to check for broken pipes or containers.
When that failed, EFD decided to use forced entry to investigate areas of the building that were locked. The first room they checked, a storage unit on the ground floor, contained the spilled gasoline, Callicotte said.
“(We’re) fortunate that there was no ignition source and an explosion didn’t occur in the apartments,” he said.
The gasoline soaked through some floor boards and insulation inside the building, which will need to be removed and replaced. The gasoline that was left in liquid form was cleaned up using kitty-litter, and vapors were ventilated using a fan.
Costs of repairing the damage, which is said to be minor, falls on the property owner, said Larry Weeks, property manager.
“It isn’t a disaster,” he said.
Weeks said he wasn’t sure how the machine tipped over, but said it was just an accident. Weeks thanked the thorough response from the EFD.
“That’s what they’re there for and they do a good job of it,” he said.
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Part of 19th Avenue closed Thursday evening while officials investigated a gas leak
Daily Emerald
October 12, 2006
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