Hundreds evacuate Patriot Place in Foxborough after gas leak - Boston Globe

By Alexander C. Kaufman, Globe Correspondent

About 350 shoppers and hotel guests were evacuated for nearly an hour from Patriot Place mall in Foxborough after a damaged gas meter was breached this morning, firefighters said.

Foxborough Fire Department Captain David Healy said a push cart barreled down a ramp and struck the knee-high valve, causing a gas leak in Patriot Place just before noon.

He said firefighters cleared out the Renaissance Hotel & Spa and three retail stores , forcing hundreds to wait in a parking lot for about 45 minutes while an emergency crew from Columbia Gas, the energy provider, shut off the meter.

"As soon as we got on site and we turned the gas off, everyone was let in," said Sheila Doiron, a spokeswoman for the gas company.

Healy said repair workers are fixing the damaged meter.

"The pipe that had the leak is being repaired at this time," Healy said in a brief telephone interview. "The gas company had it shut down by 12:25. It was pretty quick."

He said Patriot Place has not experienced a gas leak since its construction in 2007.

25 Sep, 2011

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