BY TOM CLANCEY
OF NORTHERN VALLEY PRESS
HARRINGTON PARK, N.J. —— Anxiety levels were high, but no one was injured and no private property was damaged, when about 100 residences in a 300-yard radius surrounding a gas line rupture were evacuated on Thursday evening, Oct. 26, in Harrington Park, Police Chief Albert Maalouf told Northern Valley Press.
Public Service Electric and Gas Co. had been working to seal a minor gas leak at Schraalenburgh Road and Closter Road when equipment being used struck one of the valves and caused it to rupture, Maalouf said.
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The chief was at the scene at 7:30 p.m. and evacuations started within minutes, he said. Authorities set up a command post at Schraalenburgh Road and LaRoche Avenue and guided emergency personnel, primarily the Harrington Park Volunteer Fire Department and three borough police officers, who went door to door evacuating residents, Maalouf said.
Evacuees were initially sheltered at the police station; Harrington Park Public School and the Harrington Park Volunteer Ambulance Corps headquarters also served as temporary shelters until people were allowed to return to their homes starting at about 10:30 p.m., Maalouf said.
Municipal authorities were assisted by emergency personnel from neighboring Closter, Norwood and Old Tappan. Maalouf kept one officer whose shift was scheduled to end on duty and called in two more, bringing the Harrington Park Police Department personnel to five, plus himself, during the peak of the response.
“Situations like this require assistance from neighboring towns and I think we have a very good system in place,” said Maalouf, thanking the borough’s mutual aid partners.
Maalouf said given the force of the rupture, the probability that the gas would ignite at the source was low, but that there was danger that the gas could ignite wherever it settled, prompting the 300-yard evacuation radius. Authorities feared that if gas were to enter a dwelling, it could ignite easier, Maalouf said. Emergency vehicles in proximity to the leak were not allowed to restart once turned off, due to the fear that an engine spark could also ignite the gas, he said.
PSE&G had been working on repairing the gas leak in anticipation of milling and paving of Schraalenburgh Road by Bergen County, which began on schedule the next day, Maalouf said.
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