TOWN OF WAPPINGER – Several fire departments and police responded to a Town of Wappinger neighborhood after Dutchess County 911 received reports of an odor of gas and a loud “hissing sound” in the Edge Hill development between All Angels Hill Road and Monfort Road at approximately 6:48 p.m.
A member of the New Hackensack Fire Department who lives in the area said the natural gas “blow-off” was so powerful, it was rustling trees in the adjoining neighborhood. Another fire official described the leak as sounding like “a helicopter landing in their backyard.”
A staging area was established at Pye Lane and Vorndran Drive for emergency vehicles to allow officials time to determine the best course of action. The New Hackensack Fire Department was assisted by firefighters and apparatus from the Hughsonville and East Fishkill Fire Departments, along with state troopers.
It was determined that Central Hudson Gas & Electric was making a repair in the area and conducted a “controlled blow-off ” to repair a natural gas transmission line behind 49 Hillcrest Court without notifying neighbors, the fire department, or Dutchess County 911.
After reaching the utility workers, the firefighters went door-to-door in the neighborhood with gas meters to check the air quality in the houses and inform the residents of the “controlled blow-off” being conducted by Central Hudson.
The incident kept the first responders in the neighborhood for an extended period Thursday night.
