Gas leak temporarily closes part of Dadeland Mall
SOUTHWEST MIAMI-DADE, Fla. (WSVN) -- Authorities have reopened the north side of Dadeland Mall after crews capped a gas leak, which had saturated the air with dangerous levels of propane.
Authorities say construction crews hit a gas line near the food court, which was the last area of the mall to re-open.
When fire rescue crews arrived on the scene they found dangerous levels of propane. They quickly closed off all access to the area and evacuated it while they shut off the gas to the food court and nearby stores. "We shut off the gas going into that area," said Lt. Eddy Ballester of Miami-Dade Fire Rescue. "We also shut off the valves and, in addition to that, we take measurements of the immediate atmosphere to make certain that there are no dangerous levels of propane in the area."
Authorities indeed found dangerous levels of gas in the air and said the smallest spark could have lit up the entire area. "We want to make sure that anyone that's in the area isn't smoking," said Ballester. "We even restricted access to the parking garage because we don't want to run the risk of any spark, any source that may provide ignition to a potentially dangerous environment."
People lined up for about 45 minutes trying to get back into the parking garage to their cars while the levels of gas subsided.
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