THE Shell service station in Wodonga had to be evacuated yesterday after gas started leaking from a damaged vehicle as the driver was filling up.
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Emergency services responded to the Elgin Boulevard business about 11.25am after being alerted to the incident.
A man had been filling a Ford F100 truck when the leak occurred and the service station was evacuated as a safety precaution.
Three vehicles at the service station could not be started due to the risk of ignition and had to be rolled from the area.
Wodonga firefighter Lyndon Bradley said a device known as a gas flare-off unit had been brought in from Wangaratta to burn off the LPG at the scene.
“There was a mechanical failure of some sort in the car’s LPG system,” he said.
“Due to the nature of the leak it was not able to be stopped.
“We had to use the flare-off unit to decant all the LPG out of the vehicle.”
The gas was burnt off through a large device similar to a Bunsen burner, with flames reaching about two metres in height.
Firefighters spent more than three hours at the scene, with the flames attracting interest from onlookers.
“We were uphill and upwind of the gas so that it wasn’t blowing into our faces,” Mr Bradley said.
“It was just an accident and it was a good result in the end.
“The service station staff had used the emergency fuel shut-off system for the site and cordoned off the area.
“We were able to secure the leaking vehicle and push the other cars out to let the other customers go back to their business.”
Leaking LPG posed a serious safety risk, Mr Bradley said. Anyone who smells or notices leaking gas should phone triple-0.