YORK, Maine — A gas leak briefly caused the evacuation of the office and retail businesses at 226 York St. in York Village for a short time Wednesday afternoon.
York Village firefighters and police arrived shortly before 2 p.m., and cordoned off the area in front of the building, telling workers and curious onlookers to move back away.
York Village fire investigator David Apgar said at the scene that the gas had been turned off to the building immediately. Firefighters wearing gas masks ventilated the building. The gas levels in the building were low to begin with. Although there was a determination of an active leak, he said, “it was not a strong, strong smell.” Once gas levels were to zero, workers were allowed back in around 2:30 p.m.
He said Rymes Propane and Oil arrived on scene and was conducting a leak test that afternoon. Owner Arthur Kyricos said that inspections are done of the building annually, but that he wants the company “to check every joint. I won’t be satisfied until then.”
Amanda Stevens, the receptionist at Better Homes and Garden/The Masiello Group, said she had smelled a faint odor of gas off and on for several hours, and thought it was coming from somewhere outside the building. “It would dissipate and then come back,” she said.
She said when a woman from another business in the building entered her space just this afternoon, “it smelled really bad,” said Stevens, and the fire department was called.
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