Demolition of Broad Street Parkade Briefly Halted Due to Gas Leak

A demolition crew working to ruptured a gas line Wednesday afternoon, resulting in the evacuation of a nearby car wash and a short delay to the demolition project itself. 

David Billings, assistant chief of the Manchester Fire-Rescue-EMS Department, said the initial call for the leak came in at approximately 2:36 p.m. when an excavator struck an unmarked gas line. 

"Right away there was a significant leak," said Billings, who noted that the gas quickly dissipated in the air because of the temperature and open surroundings. 

Billings said there was no significant danger due to the leak, but the department made the decision to briefly evacuate the neighboring car wash. 

"They came in the back door and told us to get out," said a female employee of the car wash who declined to give her name. 

Billings said the leak was contained in about an hour and Connecticut Natural Gas personnel would perform a throughout inspection of the site to identify any additional unknown gas lines. 

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