NEWBERRY — The cause of Friday’s major gas leak on Highway 219, near Walmart, has been attributed to stress over time, according to Stan Bryson, general manager of the Clinton Newberry Natural Gas Authority.
Bryson said the line is located under the road, and it appears the service line broke loose from the fitting.
On Friday, around 9 p.m. the City of Newberry Fire Department closed Highway 219 from Highway 76 to Heritage Drive. Several businesses were evacuated, including El Poblano, Zaxbys and Tokyo Grill. Detours were put in place by the South Carolina Department of Transportation to make sure no one drove through the area.
Newberry resident Joseph Berry was at Tokyo Grill when it was evacuated due to the gas leak.
“I didn’t realize the smell was gas until after the fire department came in and asked everyone to leave. I only smelled it outside the building and not in the restaurant,” Berry said.
Berry added that he didn’t see any noticeable breaks when he left the restaurant, but did see that law enforcement had the portion of the road outside of the restaurant blocked off and contained. When it comes to the smell, Berry said it smelled like someone left their gas logs on while they tried to figure out how to get them to light.
Bryson said they were on the scene about 15 minutes after they received the call, with their repair technician being in Little Mountain at the time of the call. Crews worked well into the night to repair the damage, finishing sometime early Saturday morning. Bryson said the part that took the longest was getting through the 15-16 inches of thick asphalt.
Newberry Fire Department, Newberry Police Department, Newberry Rescue Squad, Newberry County Hazmat, Friendly Fire Department and CNNGA were all on the scene during the leak. Bryson thanked everyone for doing an outstanding job.
“They did an excellent job securing the area. Newberry Fire Department had the fire hoses at the ready, and were ready to pull our guys out of the way if it became a bad situation. Thanks to the City of Newberry Fire Department, and all first responders on the scene,” Bryson said.
Chief Keith Minick said he appreciates the communities patience and understanding as they cleared and evacuated the area so CNNGA could find, and address the issue.