A gas leak was dealt with by Keswick firefighters on the town’s Station Road this afternoon.
Northern Gas was alerted to the incident after local residents reported smelling gas and the fire service was contacted at around 1.30pm.
One pump was sent to the scene and two firefighters in breathing apparatus ventilated a next-door basement flat by opening the windows.
”There were some road works taking place on Station Street and they had cut the main gas pipe to the properties and it caused a bit of a leak,” said Keswick crew manager Howard Winter. ”Northern Gas were already in attendance at the job but there was still a strong smell of gas when we arrived.”
Northern Gas had evacuated people from nearby properties and two firefighters wearing breathing apparatus were sent in after the gas monitor had indicated a build up of gas in the basement of one of the flats.
”When the main has been cut, the gas vents back into the property,” said Mr Winter. ”The readings from outside were too high for any person to go in.”
After venting the property, the fire service handed over the incident to Northern Gas at around 2.45pm.
Cumbria County Council has been carrying out pavement refurbishment work in the area. Police closed the already restricted road for safety reasons.
Dan Hind, operations manager for Northern Gas Networks, said: “We were alerted to a leak this afternoon after gas pipe was damaged during footpath repairs on Station Road in Keswick.
“Some of the gas had entered a handful of nearby homes and we worked with the local police to gain access to those that they were unoccupied.
“All of the dwellings have now been checked and fully ventilated. The road has been temporarily closed while our engineers repair the leaking pipe.
“We hope this work will be completed within a couple of hours and apologise to local residents in the meantime for any disruption caused.”
