(STORY IMAGE:KHQ.COM)
SPOKANE VALLEY, Wash. -Spokane Valley firefighters responded to a reported natural gas leak in the 12200 block of East Broadway Avenue around 4:15 Wednesday afternoon. The first arriving units made contact with the operators of an underground boring machine. The machine had punctured a gas line in the eastbound lanes of Broadway. A hiss of gas was clearly audible. The incident was upgraded with more units being dispatched to the scene.
Broadway Avenue was completely blocked off between Pines and Wilbur to prevent anyone from entering the area. Nine buildings were evacuated. The power was also disconnected to those buildings to prevent any possible explosions.
Firefighters deployed and manned fire hoses and sprayed down the street where the gas was escaping. Several crews from Avista Utilities brought in equipment to gain access to the leaking gas lines. SVFD crews continued to man the fire hoses to protect the Avista crews while they worked. Avista crews were finally able to shut off the gas around 7 pm. Avista crews remained on scene to complete repairs on the gas line.
After the gas leak was contained, firefighters returned to the adjoining businesses to make sure that the gas had dissipated.
A total of 12 apparatus and support vehicles responded to the scene. No firefighter injuries were reported.