LEHI, Utah (KUTV) — It was a pretty big scare for neighbors in Lehi Thursday after an intense gas leak in one woman's home prompted the evacuation of more than a dozen of her neighbors.
Had Julie Adams not deviated from her usual routine Wednesday night and Thursday morning, the situation might have had a much worse outcome. Adams said when her gas company, Enbridge, arrived at her home and deemed it too dangerous to enter, it made her emotional.
"That made me cry. I realized when they evacuated my neighbors that it was really serious," she said.
Adams said she began smelling something she didn't recognize a couple days ago.
"The day it started, I had picked a big bouquet of lilacs and put [them] on the island, and so when I came home from work two days ago, I thought the lilacs had gone bad," she said.
Adams thought she knew what natural gas smelled like, but said she didn't recognize the smell in her home. She thinks the lilacs may have masked or mingled with the smell. She also says she wasn't in the home much the last few days.
"Last night when I went to sleep, I thought, maybe I shouldn't sleep here, but I just fell asleep. And, I'm just glad that I woke up,:" she said.
Adams woke up with a headache and nausea; that's when she decided it was time to call the gas company, Enbridge.
Enbridge told 2News the levels of natural gas in the house were unsafe, and they found a burner on Adams' stove that was not completely off and was leaking natural gas.
"Immediately upon opening the door, their meters were just going off the charts and they would not even enter the home," Adams said.
Adams said they also found a small leak on her furnace that contributed to the leak.
Enbridge Gas was first on the scene.
"I had to go to work, I'm a nurse at the hospital, so I called a neighbor, and she said, 'oh there's somebody here already.' And I had only left the house about two minutes before, so they got here right away," Adams said.
The Lehi Fire Department was on the scene shortly after, and helped to safely ventilate the home. 14 homes in the neighborhood were evacuated as a result of the situation. "One of the dangers is that there are many ignition sources inside of a home that can ignite the natural gas and cause explosions, fires, things like that," said Shad Hatfield, Battalion Chief for the Lehi Fire Department, "Typically our utilities are very safe. It was good that the gas company was called on this but again a reminder, 9-1-1 is definitely the right way to go anytime you do smell natural gas."
The situation did cause a small headache for neighbors, even those who did not have to evacuate. Tim Burgess said he left his home that morning and came back to closed off streets and first responders in front of his home. "In this neighborhood, this is the first time I've seen it happen. So, I'm hoping it's a one-off," Burgess said, "I was just thankful that our house didn't have to evacuate."
Adams is apologizing to her neighbors for the inconvenience: "Everyone is inconvenienced for a short period of time and I'm really sorry for that but there was no harm and everybody is okay and the home didn't blow up."
However, she says if she hadn't changed her usual routine, the situation might have been much worse: "The thing is, I normally cook dinner and breakfast. And last night, I did not cook dinner. I did not cook breakfast this morning. So, if I would have, perhaps, ignited my stove, we could have had a much bigger incident than what happened."
The fire department said they also checked neighboring homes' natural gas levels. Everyone was allowed back just before noon Thursday. Enbridge told 2News natural gas has a distinctive rotten egg smell. Customers can ask Enbridge for a scratch and sniff with that particular scent to know what to smell for in their own homes. Enbridge said there is no clear indication of when exactly this leak began. They recommend calling 9-1-1 and then calling them from a safe spot outside the home at: 1(800) 767-1689.
Adams is urging people to be cautious when it comes to gas leaks: "Just call, earlier the better is probably the best idea. And, if it's nothing then it's nothing."