Several Merriam homes and businesses were evacuated after a construction crew struck a gas line along Antioch Road near Shawnee Mission Parkway late Wednesday evening.
Overland Park firefighters and Merriam police were first called to the area at about 4 p.m. for the leak.
Capt. Jeremiah Waters told the Post at the scene that an 8-inch gas line was broken along the northbound lanes of Antioch Road, just north of Shawnee Mission Parkway.
As a result of the leak, Antioch was closed from Shawnee Mission Parkway to 61st Street, and several homes near 62nd Terrace and Slater were evacuated as a precaution, according to Waters.
Gas leaking from the broken pipe was audible from several blocks away.
A light wind carried the odor of natural gas slowly across parts of northern Merriam and into eastern Shawnee.
Shawnee firefighters responded to at least four calls regarding a natural gas odor. All of those were determined to be related to the leak in Merriam.
Three callers reported the smell in the area of Hocker Grove Middle School and Shawnee City Hall, near Johnson Drive and Nieman Road.
A fourth caller reported the smell in their neighborhood near 51st Street and Parkhill Street, approximately three miles from the leak.
Paramedics evaluated one person in Shawnee who reported feeling unwell due to the gas odor. That person was not taken to a hospital by ambulance.
Overland Park firefighters and Kansas Gas Service personnel set up air-quality monitoring equipment in the immediate area of the leak.
“Fire crews report no dangerous readings in the area at this time, and we will continue to monitor as a precaution,” the city of Merriam posted on Facebook.
Overland Park firefighters reported that the leak was stopped at 7:49 p.m.
Nearly four and a half hours after their initial response, firefighters were released from the scene just before 8:30 p.m.
At 8:07 p.m., the city of Merriam’s Facebook post was updated to say that the evacuation order had been lifted.
Antioch Road remained closed overnight as Kansas Gas crews made repairs to the broken pipe.
