Update: PECO clamps gas leak in Collegeville neighborhood

PECO workers clamped a gas leak in the 600 block of Stewart Avenue in Collegeville at 9:05 a.m. Friday. There were no reported injuries, and the leak was not in any homes in the area.

According to PECO spokesperson Ben Armstrong, “an underground electric cable faulted and caused damage to natural gas main, because of this we proactively stopped electric service to 19 customers along Stewart Avenue.”

Those homes were without electricity throughout the morning; crews worked on the scene to have power restored by this afternoon, Armstrong said. “Gas service was not impacted,” Armstrong said.

PECO workers dug in front resident Pam Mahoney’s house in order to reach the leak.

Mahoney said she was getting ready to leave for work this morning when her husband, who had already left, noticed the odor around 6:10 a.m. “He drove to the corner and (called), asking if I smelled gas. I said, ‘No, let me go back out,’” Mahoney said. “I opened the door and got a big whiff of gas.”

She called PECO around 6:30 a.m., and she was told workers would be there in an hour. Mahoney worried something would happen in the meantime, but they arrived in a half hour, she said.

“I was really scared,” Mahoney said. She turned off her car, which had been warming up, and heard a hissing sound as she walked back into the house.

A PECO worker arrived and “went up and down the road to make sure it wasn’t the other houses.” He also checked Mahoney’s house because her kitchen smelled like gas, she said, but he determined the leak wasn’t inside.

Jack Martin, whose home is across the street from the leak, said he smelled gas when he woke up, but the PECO crew was already on the scene. Martin’s home was not evacuated, he said.

“It’s scary after ,” Martin said.

The smell permeated surrounding streets Friday morning, according to reports, and received multiple calls about the situation, said Fire Marshal John Moran Sr. At first, firefighters responded one street away from Stewart Avenue, Moran said. Once the company moved over to Stewart, Moran said the firefighters, “just had to stay in place there, and one truck went to different places, responding to calls. had an engine in neighborhoods as well.”

If a person suspects there is an in-house gas problem, Armstrong says all residents should immediately leave the home and go to a neighbor’s house or use a cell phone outside to call PECO’s emergency number: 1-800-841-4141. Homeowners should not make the call from inside the residence.

 If a person notices a natural gas leak outside the property, Armstrong says one should move away from the leak and call PECO.

In other Perkiomen Fire Company news:

Before noon Friday, firefighters responded to a report of smoke coming from an upstairs bedroom in the 100 block of Salem Road, according to Fire Chief John Moran Jr.  “The source of the smoke was located and determined to be a faulty power supply to a fish tank that shorted out and melted,” Moran stated in an email. “There was no extension to any other combustibles and the residents were able to return to their home,” Moran reported.