Natural Gas Leak Prompts Closure of Rosedale Road

Rosedale Road in Lawrence Township was closed to traffic for more than 90 minutes Wednesday morning (July 25) due to a natural gas leak that occurred at a property in the 700 block.

Contractors were in the process of installing a geothermal heating/cooling system at the residence when, as they were doing excavation work, they accidentally ruptured an underground gas pipe, according to emergency officials at the scene.

With natural gas free flowing from the broken pipe, Lawrence Township’s daytime duty crew of four career firefighters was dispatched at 9:30 a.m.

Township police, meanwhile, closed Rosedale Road to traffic between Carter Road and Mya Drive.

PSE&G utility personnel quickly responded but had to bring in heavy equipment to do some digging of their own in the home’s front yard to locate a shutoff valve for the broken pipe, officials said.  

Additional firefighters were requested to the scene as a precaution.

After none of Lawrence Township’s three volunteer fire companies could muster enough volunteers to adequately staff a fire engine, a unit from Princeton Fire Department with a fully-manned crew was called and arrived on scene by 10:25 a.m.

Also called to standby at the scene was a special Hopewell Borough fire department tanker carrying 4,000 gallons of water.

Officials said the gas leak was finally stopped by 10:50 a.m.

Firefighters left the scene after confirming that there was no gas accumulation in the home and that there were no further hazards, officials said. Police reopened the roadway to traffic about 11:15 a.m.