Lawrence city officials and state health officials announced they were continuing to work this afternoon to find the source of gasoline odors in the Old West Lawrence historic residential district just west of Lawrence's downtown.
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment and the city said this afternoon they were trying to find the source of the gasoline smell, which is in the area of Ninth and Louisiana streets.
The fumes are coming in the area where a fire destroyed a five-unit house early Sunday at 838 La. St. (See earlier story).
"Crews from Lawrence Douglas County Fire Medical and the Department of Utilities are monitoring the sanitary sewer system and storm water system for the presence of gasoline odors and are flushing the systems to dilute any possible substance," according to a written statement this afternoon from the city.
"Today, crews are working to make contact with each structure in an area bounded by Ninth Street and Eigth Street and Indiana to Ohio. Crews are talking about the potential for gasoline odors to be present and offering complimentary air monitoring. For those residents who are not home today, a door hanger is being left behind.
"In addition, Lawrence Douglas County Fire Medical is providing courtesy air monitoring in all structures where residents have a concern. Residents can request the air monitoring and crews will be working throughout the evening to complete monitoring. Please call (785) 843-0250 to request the monitoring by Lawrence Douglas County Fire Medical.
"If residents observe the odor of gasoline, please call 911 for an emergency response."
The city was planning to have a press briefing on the matter this afternoon.
Comments
LJWorld.com doesn’t necessarily condone the comments here, nor does it review every post. Read our full policy. Also, read about banned accounts and harassing comments.
compmd (anonymous) says…
just walk aroud flicking a lighter. nice and easy.
smalls83 (anonymous) says…
macon47-
Please tell me you are joking and you don't actually believe that
punkrockmom (Nikki May) says…
This sucks for my brother. He was in the apartments that were deemed unliveable from the microburst. Now he's in the neighborhood which is full of gas. Man, bad luck. Hope it's all fixed quick for everyone in the neighborhood.
hk45 (anonymous) says…
I wonder if the gas station next door to the apartment complex is leaking gas out of its storage tanks. That would be a big "oops."
dorkbeme (anonymous) says…
Couldn't a cell phone ignite the fumes while dialing 911?