Any situation where you smell gas inside or outside your home is a gas line emergency requiring immediate action. The rotten egg or sulfur odor is added to natural gas specifically so leaks can be detected. Evacuate immediately, avoid turning electrical switches on or off, call 911 and your gas company from outside, then call Charleston Plumbing Services. We are certified to respond to gas line emergencies 24/7 throughout Charleston, WV and the Kanawha Valley.
- Evacuate everyone immediately — every person and pet out of the building now. Do not stop to gather belongings. Use the nearest exit.
- Do not touch any electrical switches — do not turn lights on or off, do not unplug anything, do not operate any appliance or device as you leave.
- Leave doors open as you exit — open doors help dissipate accumulated gas and reduce indoor concentration levels.
- Move at least 100 feet from the building — get a safe distance before using your phone. Your phone can generate a spark that could ignite accumulated gas.
- Call 911 first — then your gas company, then Charleston Plumbing Services at 681-385-5562. Do all of this from outside and at a safe distance.
- Do not re-enter until professionals confirm it is safe — emergency responders will clear the building. Never re-enter on your own judgment.
Natural gas is one of the most efficient and widely used energy sources in Charleston, WV homes — powering furnaces, water heaters, stoves, dryers, and fireplaces throughout the Kanawha Valley. It is also, when something goes wrong with the delivery system, one of the most serious safety hazards a homeowner can face. A gas leak creates two simultaneous risks — the risk of explosion or fire from accumulated gas reaching an ignition source, and the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning and oxygen displacement from gas accumulation in an enclosed space. Both risks can turn fatal rapidly and without obvious warning.
