Gas line ruptured downtown Charles City

By James Grob, jgrob@charlescitypress.com

Charles City emergency services responded to a gas leak Tuesday at 501 North Main St. downtown around noon, near the post office and Dollar General.

The Charles City Fire Department, Police Department, Floyd County Sheriff’s Office and Floyd County Emergency Management were all on the scene until a repair crew from MidAmerican Energy arrived. The block was closed to traffic for about half an hour.

A boring crew working for MidAmerican was putting down underground utilities at the location Tuesday morning when they struck and ruptured a natural gas line.

“The smell of gas was very strong,” said one passer-by who was in the area to drop off a package at the post office. “There were no explosions or anything, but you could smell the gas from a couple blocks away.”

MidAmerica arrived to dig down and repair the rupture without further incident. Curt Teeter of the Charles City Fire Department, who was among those on the scene, said he didn’t know if MidAmerican had a way to shut off the leak.

“Usually they can isolate the line to stop the gas from leaking,” Teeter said.

Police and Fire Department officials diverted traffic and directed passers-by away from the area.

“Anytime there’s a gas leak, it’s always a concern,” said Teeter. “There’s always the possibility of danger to the public.”

Messages to MidAmerican Energy offices Tuesday afternoon were not returned. Charles City officials believed MidAmerican had the leak under control.