Propane leak prompts evacuation

Nearly 200 people were evacuated and 600 motorists were detoured Tuesday morning in Lewisburg because of propane leaking from a hose valve at an AmeriGas tank along the south side of CSX railroad tracks accessed from Spring Place Road.A state highway construction contractor's worker on South Ellington Parkway called authorities and Lewisburg Gas Department Manager Leroy Mullins was notified at 7:12 a.m., Lewisburg Fire Chief Larry Williams reported. Mullins found the tank owned by Heritage Propane and called the fire department.

The area between Spring Place Road and Belfast Avenue was blocked, Williams said. CSX stopped train traffic. Police and firefighters went door to door clearing buildings including Burk Building Supply, Blaylock Plumbing and Heating, the Co-op, its tire store, Ace Hardware, Childress Concrete, H&R Block, the Farm Center and Handi Mart. Evacuation started at 8:01 a.m. and was completed at 8:22 a.m.

At corporate headquarters in Valley Forge, Pa., AmeriGas Propane spokesman Bill Katz said, "Our first responders were service technicians Keith Smith and Larry Smith. They're not related. They were able to adjust the valve that had been leaking. Through wear, the mechanism had lost its tight fit. This was a very slow loss of gas; less than two gallons over more than three days."