Multiple Ross Township homes evacuated after contractor hits gas line

ROSS TOWNSHIP, Pa. — Multiple homes were evacuated in Ross Township Thursday evening after a contractor hit a gas line.

“Natural gas, it is a distinct natural gas smell,” said Greg Buzzo who lives in the area.

Neighbors who live near Grandview Avenue in Ross Township say when they came home, the smell of natural gas engulfed them.

“The strong gas in our house is scary, so we are limiting our lights. We have pretty much everything shut off, so we don’t cause any adverse reactions,” Buzzo explained.

For hours, neighbors told Channel 11 that all they knew was that a gas line had been hit and were instructed to stay inside, causing many like Buzzo to fear the worst, especially following recent explosions like the one in Plum that killed six people.

“We would like answers. The house that just a couple years ago was leveled on Bascom...I mean, that is probably 100 yards away from here,” Buzzo said.

Multiple fire crews on the scene confirmed that at 4 p.m., a gas line had been hit by contractors in the area working to repave a portion of the road. The hole is almost a foot long.

“They cut a hole in the mainstay, an eight-inch hole there is a hole about that big, “said Leonard Boehm, the chief for the Fairview Fire Department.

“We did evacuate four homes in the area here on Grandview Avenue and we secured the gas to those homes as well,” said John Atkinson, the chief of the Seville Fire Department.

A People’s Gas spokesman said all repairs were made around 8:30 p.m. and people were able to return to their homes then.

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