Springfield Assistant Fire Chief Matt Smith said most calls about gas turn out to be small leaks or nonexistent ones.
“People smell something that doesn’t smell right. They call us out, we investigate, we find nothing and it’s OK. That’s a very common occurrence for us,” he said. “If we do find a problem, it’s normally (easily repaired).”
What has to happen for a gas leak to ignite is the gas has to reach certain concentrations, Smith said.
“If there’s too much gas, it will not ignite. If it’s too lean or too little gas, it won’t Ignite. It has to have the right combination of the gas in the air, the oxygen, to cause that ignition,” he said.
If you find a leak, Smith said it’s not going to immediately explode and will take some time for it to build up. If you detect a leak, open up the windows and doors to allow the gas to get out. Once the gas is out, the concentration is diffused, and there’s less likely of a chance of an explosion.
To help prevent gas leaks, the first thing is to understand what your gas appliances are. Smith said those are usually a furnace, water heater or stove, as well as space heaters and clothes dryers.
If you have a gas appliance, make sure it’s inspected on an annual basis by a qualified HVAC technician, but also check yourself that it’s working properly and has the needed filters.
Another thing to check is the flame, which should be blue. If it’s orange or red, that’s not a good sign and something is wrong. Smith said you may see orange or red right away, such as when lighting a gas stove, but that should go away after a second and turn blue.
“It may not be a leak, but something’s not right there and you need to have an HVAC come out and take a look and fix it,” Smith said. “Make sure it should be a blue flame: that’s natural gas burning cleanly. Orange or red means it’s not burning cleanly and something is wrong.”
You can also tell if something is wrong by the smell. Smith said natural gas in its natural state is odorless and tasteless, but that the gas company puts an odor in there, such as a rotten egg smell, that helps with knowing that something is going on and needs to be checked.
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