11AM: Fifrefighters have responded quickly to a potentially dangerous gas leak at a Wangaratta service station this morning.
Police closed off a section of Greta Road soon after 2am when a truck driver reported that he could smell gas.
Fire crews used atmospheric monitoring devices and discovered a high amount of LPG in the air.
It took crews about 40 minutes to de-ice the valve of an LPG tank, where the leak was.
“It wasn’t caused by a damaged vessel, the valve wasn’t shut correctly,” Wangaratta leading firefighter Ian Lilley said.
“We had to bust open the padlock to get to the controls.
“We had to douse the firefighter who opened the lock in case it sparked, which it did.”
Mr Lilley said it had been a good result.
“If the valve had been damaged the service station would probably have still be closed off (several hours later) and we would have had to decant the tank,” he said.
“Had the leak been overnight and had no one noticed it, all it needed was an ammunition spark and it would have gone bang.
“In the end it was an easy job.”
