Firefighters see increasing calls for gas leaks

JACKSON — Firefighters are seeing an increasing number of calls about gas leaks after a heavy winter begins to shed. Snow and ice falling from roofs will impact gas meters and lead to leaks.
 
The Jackson Hole Fire/EMS team has responded to 14 gas leak calls since Jan. 1, according to Battalion Chief Brian Coe.
 
“It seems like a higher number this year,” Coe said. “The bigger winter has caused more impacts to gas meters than we’ve seen in the past. As winter starts to recede, roofs start to shed ice and snow, and those impact things on the ground, like gas meters.”
 
Coe said Lower Valley Energy has also been responding to residents who smell gas in their homes.
 
One of the most recent gas leaks on March 25 turned into a fire that decimated a home on 900 Snow King Drive. Luckily, the residents were away in Mexico at the time the fire broke out.
 
According to the fire investigation report, the fire began in a corner of the living room, where the gas stove was located. Seven trucks and apparatus arrived from Stations 1 in Jackson, 2 in Wilson, 6 on Moose-Wilson Road and 7 from Adams Canyon. Coe, who was the incident commander on scene that afternoon, said it took the team four hours to control the fire, which had spread to the attic.
 
When crews arrived, they noticed the gas meter on the outside of the home on fire. Gas was fueling the fire at the meter, and flames were raging into the second floor of the home. Lower Valley Energy had difficulty shutting off the gas, which delayed extinguishment “considerably.”
 
Coe said fire crews were able to shut off the gas two hours after the initial call.
 
Homeowner Paula Menghetti, 67, was in Mexico at the time of the fire. When interviewed, she said her housekeeper had noticed the smell of gas in the log cabin home on March 20.
 
The housekeeper told Fire Marshal/ Battalion Chief Ray Lane that she smelled gas when she arrived, but since it was her first time in the home, she said, she thought the odor was normal. She left several hours later and didn’t notice the smell strengthen over time.
 
Lane’s report said fire patterns indicated a fire progressing from the natural gas stove area toward the kitchen.
 
“I could not identify the stove due to lack of markings on it and could not move it without risking spoliation of evidence for the potential following insurance company fire investigation,” Lane wrote in an email.
 
Lane told the Jackson Hole Daily that the home is a “total loss.”
 
Several times in his report Lane noted that the gas pipe funneling into the home’s gas meter was not sealed as it was fed through the home’s structure.
 
“[The lack of sealant around the pipe] is not a fire hazard specifically, but it does leave a route for fugitive gasses to enter the structure,” Lane wrote in an email.
 
His report said the cause of the fire was undetermined as “no causes could be eliminated.” He reminded people to keep their propane and gas systems “free of snow and ice, as it can lead to dangerous conditions such as gas leaks.”
 
Coe advised residents to install shields over gas meters, especially if a gas meter is in an area prone to a roof slide.
 
“Make sure your gas meter is kept clear throughout the winter months so we can find it and turn it off if that’s necessary if we find a leak,” Coe said. “That’s one of the things we need to be able to find quickly, because it’s another source that propagates fires inside structures.”
 
This story was published on April 13, 2023.