Gas leak brings close call to 235th Street

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At 5:50 p.m. on May 5, a “pop” sounded in the back of Le Chic Salon at 587 W. 235th St. and a foul smell began seeping into the store and neighboring businesses. Sensing that something was amiss, Pravin Patel, owner of GNP Sunil Corporation next door at 585 W. 235th St., immediately picked up the phone to dial 911.

Firefighters from Ladder & Engine 52 responded to the scene within minutes. A quick sweep of the building confirmed that gas fumes had reached a critical density around the site.

“Our TIF meters started going off like crazy — like Geiger counters,” said Ladder 52’s Capt. Robert Keating, describing the hand-held devices firefighters use to locate gas leaks.

A spokesman for Con Edison said that a team dispatched by the gas provider arrived several minutes later. After some basic sleuthing, they pinpointed the leak to a corroded pipe in the salon.

“It rusted out and just popped,” explained Capt. Keating, whose crew accompanied the team from Con Edison.

After Con Edison had turned off a curb valve feeding gas to the stores on the block, firefighters set about dispersing the flammable fumes, which had pooled in the cellars of several 235th Street buildings. Within an hour, the smell had begun to dissipate.

“It was kind of like the situation that led to the explosion on the Lower East Side,” said Capt. Keating, referring to the blast that leveled three buildings and killed two on Second Avenue in March. “If that gas had ignited, forget it. We might have lost the whole block.”

Both Capt. Keating and the spokesman from Con Edison confirmed that if the leak had occurred over night when the stores were closed, gas might have collected for hours and made the risk of an explosion much greater. While Prenk Curanaj, co-owner of Le Chic Salon, expressed relief that the leak at his business did not result in tragedy, he said that the salon was struggling without regular access to hot water. “We need hot water when we’re washing hair and mixing colors,” he said, in addition to other common procedures. 

gas leaks, FDNY, Ladder & Engine 52, Robert Keating, Con Edison, Le Chic Salon, Nic Cavell
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