Residents return home after gas leak causes evacuation in Greene County

FAIRBORN, Greene County — Multiple people were evacuated from homes in a Fairborn neighborhood Tuesday afternoon after a gas leak, according to Fairborn Fire Department Battalion Chief Adam Howard.

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Tuesday morning, a utility crew was out working in the Brookstone neighborhood off Trebein Road, near Hobson Freedom Park, when they accidentally drilled a hole into a natural gas line, Howard said.

Natural gas was immediately released into the atmosphere at high concentrations from its underground line, causing a prompt response of firefighters and police, Howard said.

When crews arrived on the scene, firefighters went door-to-door asking permission to enter homes and test for gas levels.

CenterPoint Energy also responded to the scene quickly and worked to shut off the gas.

13 homes were evacuated during this time due to them being in the estimated hot zone.

Fire crews established the hot zone where there was the greatest threat for the potential danger of natural gas exposure.

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Howard said crews on scene had to work with multiple wind changes, which caused the hot zone to be larger than usual.

As crews were working the scene, they decided to open the front half of the neighborhood as the leak was contained to the back portion.

Local school dismissals were delayed as they couldn’t have children walking through the neighborhood while crews were still trying to contain the leak.

CenterPoint isolated the gas leak and the scene was cleared by 3:26 p.m.

Before leaving, firefighters went door-to-door to homes in the hot zone to make sure no gas was accumulating in confined areas.

Howard said if gas got into confined areas, like homes, and found an ignition source, like a water heater, then an explosion could have occurred.

Greene County EMA assisted evacuees and bussed them out of the area, as firefighters were unsure how long it would take to get the leak under control.

“We really do appreciate the cooperation from the community, we know it was a lot, closing down roads and asking people to leave their homes, and everyone was very cooperative… at the end of the day we’re just trying to keep people safe,” Howard said.

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