About 16 people were evacuated from their homes in Kane on Monday after gasoline vapors entered the borough’s sanitary system and filtered up into the structures, McKean County Emergency Services Director Andrew Johnson said.
Members of the Kane Volunteer Fire Department were called out to the incident, which happened around 4:30 a.m. Monday east of North Fraley Street and derived from a gas tank on the property of Kwik Fill.
“It’s a precautionary thing,” said Borough Manager Don Payne, who added the situation was under control around 1 or 1:30 p.m.
Johnson said the situation caused six homes to be evacuated.
“It (vapors) may take some time to mitigate,” Johnson said.
The homes were in the process of being vented, and so was the system, Johnson said when talking to The Era on Monday afternoon.
Johnson said he hoped that residents would be able to return to their homes Monday night or today. The families are currently staying in relatives’ homes or at hotels, Payne said.
Agencies on scene included the state Department of Environmental Protection, United Refining from Warren, the borough fire department, borough police and McKean County Emergency Management Agency.
Also called in to assist was a Bradford business, American Refining Group.
“ARG did assist with the emergency in Kane this morning,” said Sara Furlong, ARG’s executive communications coordinator. The “DES director contacted ARG Safety Specialist James Kelley regarding the use of some equipment, at approximately 9 a.m.
“We were glad to be able to help by delivering some intrinsically safe fans to assist with ventilation,” said Furlong.
Payne said he could not put a price tag on the incident, adding that emergency officials would remain working until today.
Payne called the emergency response excellent, saying this was his first experience going through such an incident as borough manager. Payne said he never knew such an incident would bring this many agencies on scene.
On Monday afternoon, Johnson recommended that Kane residents who headed home from work and smelled gas in their residences to call 911.
There were no reports of any injuries as a result of the gas leak. Authorities were not immediately sure as of Monday night what caused the gas tank to leak.
