Evacuations underway as ‘gas leak ranges inside the explosive limits’ in London, Ont. downtown

London, Ont., emergency crews have evacuated the area after reports of a natural gas leak broke out in the downtown core.

“London Fire received a call from concerned contractors in the area of natural gas coming out of manhole covers within underground of Queens Avenue,” said Gary Mosburger, platoon chief manager with the London Fire Department. “Once we arrived here, we realized that we had a very significant natural gas leak.”

London Police Service issued multiple road closures in relation to the gas leak.

Currently, Waterloo Street is closed between Dundas Street and Dufferin Avenue. Queens Avenue is also closed between Waterloo and Colborne streets.

Buildings within a two-block radius are set to be evacuated “out of an abundance of caution,” according to a statement released by the City of London.

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The area impacted by the natural gas leak includes:

• Princess Avenue to the north
• Maitland Street to the east
• King Street to the south
• Wellington Street to the west

“A lot of people have had to evacuate those buildings, realizing that we had gas ranges within the explosive limits,” Mosburger said.

A spokesperson for the city said in an email that they are waiting to hear from emergency management to determine if there is a need for buses at this time.

Officials say that there is no risk to public safety outside of the “immediate area.”

“This is all unusual, but police and firefighters have been really good about trying to keep us as informed as they can,” Carol Milton, who works on Waterloo Street, told Global News.

Mosburger added that crews will be conducting “inspections of each property to ensure that no gas has migrated into any of those homes or businesses” in the area.

Emergency crews continue to work to assess the situation.

— with files from Global News’ Andrew Graham.