Natural Gas Odor Source Not Found, No Hazard To Residents: Official

FRANKFORT, IL — The Frankfort Fire Protection District and Nicor Gas investigated reports Thursday from Frankfort residents about an odor of natural gas but were unable to determine the source of the odor, according to a news release from Frankfort FPD Chief Sean Fierce.

The Frankfort FPD began investigating at approximately 10:05 a.m. after receiving a 911 call about the odor from a home in the 22400 block of Misty Falls Lane, followed by several more calls from the area of Steger Road to the Canadian National railroad tracks and from Scheer Road to Wolf Road.

"At no time did any of our gas detection equipment identify any flammable hazard," Fierce wrote in the release. "There were no reports of any known pipeline leaks or preplanned releases by any pipeline operator."

Crews tracked the odor as it was carried north and northeast toward Tinley Park. The last report of the odor came at 11:30 a.m. from the 7800 block of Francis Road, according to the release.

The odor that was detected was mercaptan, according to Fierce, which is added to natural gas and propane to give the gases detectable odors.

Possible sources of the odor could have come from a leaking rail car or truck traveling through the area, according to Fierce.

Had there been a hazard detected, residents would have been alerted via several notification systems, including:

• The Frankfort Police Department NIXLE Alert System (visit www.nixle.com or text “FRANKFORT” to 888-777 to sign up for alerts).
• The Frankfort Fire Protection District and Frankfort Police Department on Facebook.
• The Will County Emergency Management Agency’s “Ready Will County” app onto your smart device.

Fierce advised residents to register for alerts from those notification services.