Sibley, Iowa — The Sibley Fire Department has responded to two natural gas calls this week.
Sibley Fire Chief Ken Huls says firefighters were called to the alley behind Sibley Superfoods on Tuesday. He says it was called in about 11:30 or so. He says a truck that picks up the store’s cardboard bales was being loaded when a bale fell off the forklift and hit Hartzell-Rosenberg Construction’s gas meter in the alley.
He says Sibley Superfoods was evacuated as a precaution for about 20 minutes, and Alliant Energy was notified. Huls says Alliant employees were going to install a new line to the meter.
He says firefighters were there for about ten to fifteen minutes.
But on Sunday night, Huls says the fire department also responded to a natural gas call. This one was inside a home. He says the home’s owner had left the home in the late afternoon. His son was using the gas stove and had turned it off enough that the flame went out, but gas kept coming in. Huls says the gas saturated the house. He says the owner walked in later and smelled the gas. He says luckily he didn’t turn on any lights and shut off the stove and called 911.
Huls says when firefighters arrived the gas smell was “pretty potent.” He says they donned air packs and ventilated the gas with a fan. He says they were there for about an hour.
Huls reminds people that different gasses behave differently. He says natural gas — the kind that comes in pipes from the gas company or municipal gas utility — is lighter than air and rises. He says if natural gas is left on or leaks, it accumulates in the upper parts of the home like the upstairs or an attic.
Propane — sometimes called “LP” — is delivered to your home by a truck or you go to buy canisters of it. Rural homes and homes in very small towns use propane, which he says is actually HEAVIER than air, and will accumulate in lower parts of the home such as the basement.
He says if you smell gas, leave the home right away. Do NOT turn on any lights or touch anything that uses electricity –even a cell phone — because that could cause a spark, which would cause the gas and your home to explode. He says you should call 911 and the gas company AFTER you’ve left the house, and if you can do it safely from outside, turn off the gas to the home.
