Weather Played Role In Natural Gas Problems In California Borough
CALIFORNIA BOROUGH (KDKA) - Columbia Gas crews were going house to house Friday night, reigniting people's gas furnaces and stoves in California Borough, Washington County.
Service was shut off earlier in the day as crews investigated reports of high gas levels in the Orchard Street neighborhood.
Columbia Gas spokesman Scott Waitlevertch told KDKA-TV's Ralph Iannotti, "Certainly, the cold weather we've been having this month is a bit of an anomaly, but the equipment is working as it should be right now."
There was a brief evacuation order Friday morning when the gas problem was first detected.
But people were soon allowed back to their homes, only to learn on a day when temperatures never got above 15 degrees that their gas was being turned off as a safety precaution as crews tried to solve the mystery of the pressures problems.
Nearly 600 homes were affected by the evacuation order and the temporary cutoff of gas service.
Many of the homeowners like Karen Swartz said they got a text from the police department telling them what was going on and that warming centers had been set up at the California University Convocation Center.
"It's getting chilly in our house and I don't know how long it'll be until we get service," Swartz said.
"It's cold, we have a big house," said Louise Hartley. "It's cold."
Columbia Gas released a statement Friday afternoon:
"Homes where service has not been restored are asked to keep their porch lights on. For customers not home during the service restoration process, a door hanger will be left at their home informing them of the outage and requesting they call Columbia Gas at 1-888-460-4332 for a service technician to be dispatched to their home to restore service."
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