A gas leak near Evansville's Fall Festival sent emergency crews scrambling to the 2200 block of West Franklin Street on Sunday, forcing evacuations of nearby businesses and apartments just as festival vendors were setting up for the weekend. The source turned out not to be a food booth, but the restaurant Noche.
Emergency crews were called to investigate the leak on Sunday afternoon, according to 14 News. Evansville Central Dispatch said the call for an investigation in the 2200 block of West Franklin Street came in around 4:03 p.m. Officials responded by putting restrictions in place in the area and evacuating people from nearby businesses and apartments while crews worked to pin down where the gas was coming from.
Source Traced to Nearby Restaurant
Fire officials said the smell of gas was first reported by a member of the Nut Club, and initial concern centered on the Fall Festival's food booths given the timing of the leak during festival setup. Crews determined that wasn't the case — the station's report states that investigators discovered it was coming from the restaurant Noche instead.
Once the source was located, officials were able to shut the gas off at Noche and the surrounding buildings, according to the same report. That step allowed the area restrictions tied to the leak to begin easing as crews confirmed the gas had been cut off at its origin.
Every Booth Set for Inspection Before Opening
With the Fall Festival set to open Monday, Evansville fire investigators said they planned to check every booth before the gates opened, according to 14 News. Before the booths open up, our investigators come down here, and they go ahead and check every booth, a fire official said, per the outlet's report — a precaution meant to reassure festivalgoers after Sunday's scare rattled nerves so close to one of the city's biggest annual events.
West Franklin Street has seen this kind of trouble before. A gas leak near 12th and Franklin on Wednesday afternoon, February 25, 2015, prompted a brief evacuation of businesses, according to a 14 News report from that year. Sunday's incident marked another disruption to the historic business strip, though officials have not said what caused this latest leak beyond locating its source at Noche.
Additional details on the scope of Sunday's evacuations, including how many people or businesses were affected and how long the restrictions remained in place, were not available. Residents and business owners near the festival grounds were advised to notify festival staff, fire personnel, or police if they smell gas, according to 14 News.
