MILWAUKIE, Ore. – Several Milwaukie families are back in their homes after being evacuated from a potentially explosive situation Tuesday evening.
Someone smelled a gas leak in a home on 54th Court and called 9-1-1. The neighborhood is across from Seth Lewelling Elementary School where about 20 people waited in buses while crews from gas utility Northwest Natural checked on the leak.
At least two homes were affected.
Firefighters say the concentration of gas inside the leaking home was enough to cause an explosion, but it was shut off and the gas cleared out before any explosion took place.
No injuries were reported and the residents were allowed to return home after the leak was stopped.
NW Natural safety experts say anyone smelling leaking gas, which smells like rotten eggs, should immediately evacuate the home or area affected and only then contact 9-1-1 or Northwest Natural.
They say using any kind of phone, including cell phones, in the proximity of a high concentration of leaking gas could cause an explosion. The same goes for using light switches.
