Gas line break takes 2 hours to repair

A severed gas line at the construction site nearly became a much bigger problem when workers couldn’t locate a shutoff valve Thursday.

Shortly before noon, the Kalispell Fire Department, the Kalispell Police Department and NorthWestern Energy were called to the construction site for Depot Place — a 40-unit, $3.9 million affordable senior housing center on Center Street — after a two-inch gas main was cut accidentally.

The situation went from bad to worse when it was discovered that there was no immediately accessible shutoff valve.

As construction workers were evacuated from the site and portions of East Center Street and Second Avenue East North were closed, an additional hole was dug near the broken pipe to gain access to a buried valve. After roughly two hours, the line was shut off.

Kalispell Fire Chief Dave Dedman said there was no major danger during the incident and the concentration of gas did not reach levels that could be explosive.

“There was no explosive hazard, no buildup in the buildings around,” Dedman said.

The gas smell, however, spread across a wide area of Kalispell.

According to secondhand information received by Cindy Mullaney — deputy director of the Flathead County Office of Emergency Services — the county dispatch center received very few calls about the gas smell that drifted throughout the area surrounding Depot Place.

“One of the fire guys on scene said they were inundated with calls at NorthWestern Energy,” Mullaney said.

She praised residents for calling the energy company instead of calling 911.

Dedman said the leak did not present any unusual issues that the fire department doesn’t face at every gas leak.

“This was average, it wasn’t anything big,” he said. “It was kind of an everyday occurrence for us.”

According to Dedman, the initial response from his department for any gas leak is to send an engine company in concert with the deployment of NorthWestern Energy personnel. If the energy company deems it necessary, further resources are dispatched from the fire department.

“Typically if we do need more people it’s for traffic control and people control,” Dedman said, noting that the department will also bring in more people if evacuations are necessary.