Tuesday 3 April 2012

"It's only a matter of time before someone is killed"

That was the grim prediction of a Bord Gáis emergency worker who attended the scene of yet another gas leak in a boarded-up house in Ballinacurra Weston last week.

Cathal McCarthy, Matt Collins and Shane Stewart were walking past the boarded up houses in Crecora Avenue when they got a strong smell of natural gas coming from one of the properties.

Upon inspection they noticed that the gas metre on the gable end of the house had its casing removed and was ticking over. Cathal immediately rang the emergency line 1850 20 50 50 and reported the leak.

The emergency worker that attended the scene informed Cathal that the leak was inside the house, that someone had either left an appliance on or more likely, that the pipes had been damaged in an attempt to steal copper.

"It's only a matter of time before someone is killed, he told me" said Cathal. "He also told me that he is constantly being called out to regeneration areas and that someone somewhere isn't doing their job, that the metres should be removed and the pipe should be capped when the house is being boarded up".

The emergency worker told Cathal that it was a good job that the house next door was boarded up, had it been occupied there was a good chance that the leak could have spread through the attics putting lives at risk.

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