Construction machinery caused a gas leak at the SmartCentres construction site Wednesday.
FortisBC reports that a crew was summoned to 2521 Trans-Canada Highway about 9 a.m. Wednesday in response to a natural gas leak. A second crew from Kamloops joined the Salmon Arm crew later that day and the leak was deemed under control at 4:30 p.m.
Crews decided to conduct a bypass and reroute the gas, allowing them to repair the line without shutting off the gas completely to avoid affecting 168 customers. Six customers were still affected and gas was restored to them at 6:30 p.m., Fortis reports.
The gas was blowing clear and dissipating into the atmosphere, as there were nothing blocking it. FortisBC spokesperson Michael Allison said this is the safest situation possible.
“We always want to promote safe digging practices,” Allison noted. “I’m not sure what happened in this case but I know that 90 per cent of all damages can be prevented if people follow safe excavation practices.”
Fire department units were on scene as a precaution in case anything went wrong.
