Editor's note: For the latest on this story go to our latest story: Squamish residents no longer have to shelter in place in wake of gas leak
Squamish esidents who were either evacuated or had to shelter in place due to a gas leak Friday afternoon can now return home or leave their units.
Some residents in the Northyards area were asked to shelter in place, close windows and switch off any gas at about noon on Jan. 27.
All afternoon, District of Squamish emergency personnel were on scene in the area of No Name Road after a reported natural gas leak resulting from excavation work in the area.
Residents in a nearby mobile home park were asked to leave their homes for their own safety, due to their proximity to the leak, according to the District.
A road closure was in place at No Name Road and Centennial Way. As of 4 p.m., emergency crews were leaving and all road closures were over.
The highway was shut in both directions for a short time in the afternoon as crews checked gas levels.
FortisBC told The Squamish Chief that its crews remain on site at Pioneer Street and Discovery Way Friday evening.
In addition to local crews, workers from the North Shore had been brought up to deal with the issue.
“They're attending to gas main damage that was caused by a third party earlier today. So they arrived on site just after 11 a.m., and they continue to be on site,” said spokesperson Lauren Lea.
It’s unclear who the third party is or what they were doing at this point, Lea said.
Lea said people were not in danger.
“Our crews are on site,” said Lea. “We are there monitoring the damage to the gas main. And we don't yet have an estimated time on when repairs will be complete.”
As of about 4 p.m., there are about 170 customers without gas services in the area, Lea said.
Crews are continuing to repair the system, and a time of completion has yet to be determined. However, updates will be provided via the utility's website in the near future.
"Once repairs are complete, our technicians will visit each affected home to restore gas service at the meter and relight all affected appliances," wrote Lea in an email. "If no one is home, the FortisBC service crew will leave a door tag that provides contact information to schedule a relight."
This story was updated several times as the situation evolved.
