Residents in Allegan County experienced a significant interruption yesterday afternoon as a major gas leak led to service disruptions. The gas leak is impacting around 5,200 households, particularly in the Fennville, Douglas, and Saugatuck areas, according to WWMT. The Allegan County Sheriff's Office, alongside multiple law enforcement agencies and emergency responders, worked to address the leak after initial reports at approximately 2:45 p.m.
Road closures affected the area for several hours, with officials urging the public to avoid stretches of 57th Street and 122nd Avenue in the Fennville City/Clyde Township region; the roads were reopened by 9:20 p.m., as per the sheriff's update, the WZZM13.com reported. The gas company successfully turned off the line to the affected area, although officials could not provide an estimated timeframe for service restoration.
Following the incident, Michigan Gas Utilities (MGU) issued a statement highlighting that "due to the type of damage, service may not be fully restored for several days," explaining that the outage occurred because the transmission line that serves MGU was damaged, the WOODTV noted. The utility company added that it was coordinating with the transmission pipeline operator to streamline the restoration process.
MGU further clarified that customers were not required to shut off gas service at their appliances, instead, technicians would begin by shutting off the gas at each customer's meter starting this morning to ensure a safe reactivation of services, MGU reassured affected customers while urging individuals seeking assistance to contact the American Red Cross for help. In addition to local authorities and Michigan State Police, the urgent response was supplemented by Clyde Fire Department and Fennville Fire Department teams as soon as the gas leak scare began.
