“Call before you dig” is obviously not a message that is getting through to some people
“Call before you dig” is obviously not a message that is getting through to some people.
Early Monday afternoon, businesses in Campbellton reported “the smell of gas or propane” to emergency services, leading members of Campbell River Fire Rescue to the compost storage site at the corner of Spruce Street and Marwalk Crescent, where a backhoe operator had exploded with Fortis gas. line while digging.
“Unfortunately, this is not an uncommon occurrence,” Deputy Fire Chief Chris Vrabel said at the scene. “It’s really another ‘call before you dig’ situation. We respond to that quite regularly to secure the scene while we wait for Fortis to arrive.”
At that point, the utility takes over and the Fire Department takes on a “support role,” Vrabel said, whether it’s issuing evacuation orders as needed, rerouting traffic or digging up broken lines.
In this case, both traffic control and excavation have been required of the crew as they have accessed the line alongside Fortis workers with hand shovels.
No evacuations were ordered as no homes or businesses were in immediate danger, Vrabel said.
Fortis BC’s Michael Allison confirmed that service was suspended at one property while the line was cut to stop the leak and said that when a situation like this occurs, the person or company responsible for the damage is also responsible of the cost of the response. .
“Gas is not metered until it reaches a property, so we can’t recover that particular cost, but they are definitely responsible for the cost of the work done to repair the line and the time it takes to do it,” he said. to say. That applies to both people working on commercial properties, independent contractors, “or even residents working on their own property,” he said.
Allison said they’ve seen a 52 percent decrease in broken gas lines between 2007 and 2014, so their messages are getting through to the most people. “BC One Call,” the gas line location assessment hotline, has received a 17% increase during that time.
“We’d like to get that number down to zero,” he said, “and this is really a good reminder for people to call before they dig so they know what utilities are down there. If they don’t call and hit something, they’re stuck.”
The number to call for gas line location requests is 1-800-474-6886 or *6886 on your cell phone. Visit fortisbc.com/NaturalGas for more information or to request an e-ticket location request online. Fortis would like to remind the public to call or click a minimum of two business days before they intend to dig so they have time to properly assess the site.
