At the site of the source of the underground gas leak in downtown Derby.
DERBY — A construction crew working on the Route 34 widening project struck a gas line Thursday morning (July 13) forcing the evacuation of a building that houses a few businesses and apartments at the corner of Main and Water streets.
“Police were here directing traffic (on Route 34, also called Main Street) and found the issue and started evacuating the businesses and the apartments before we got on scene,” said East End Hose Fire Co. Captain Louis Oliwa. “We arrived on scene quickly and quickly established a water supply to protect the area just in case something were to happen.”
The buildings were metered for gas and no elevated levels were found.
Mayor Richard Dziekan arrived on the scene after hearing of the incident following the ribbon-cutting ceremony nearby of the new fishing pier on O’Sullivan’s Island. He was briefed by Oliwa about what happened.
Dziekan said one of the construction crews doing excavation work, likely subcontracted by C.J. Fucci Construction, Inc., which is handling the state-controlled Route 34 widening project, struck one of Eversource’s gas lines while digging under the street around 10 a.m.
“There are so many utilities underneath here, this is the second or third time there’s been an incident here,” Dziekan said.
A crew from Eversource arrived within 20 minutes and were able to shut the power to the gas line, so they could start making repairs, according to Brian Mather, a distribution mechanic with Eversource. Mather said the incident is a common one on construction sites.
“It happens a lot more and these guys working here (to fix the line) just came off a similar leak in Waterbury,” Mather said.
Dziekan said 10 residents and three dogs had to leave the apartment building closest to the broken gas line, along with a few employees of the two businesses.
The Derby FD, along with other area departments, were on the scene for about an hour.
