NORTHAMPTON — Police closed a portion of Chapel Street for approximately two hours Friday afternoon after a mailbox replacement is believed to have caused a gas leak in the area.
Eversource crews responded to 72 Chapel St. at approximately 1 p.m. alongside Department of Public Works employees and Northampton Fire Rescue. As crews dug into the road outside the duplex, one of its tenants, Veronica Azzara, stood in the shade of a nearby tree waiting for a safe return to her home.
“My mailbox was falling over, so I called the landlord, who sent someone over. He was just putting [the mailbox] back in its spot, and it hit a gas line,” Azzara said. “When it was previously installed, they either ran a new line or we just got really lucky before.”
Oncoming traffic was detoured to Grove Street between approximately 1 and 3 p.m., when residents were told they could return their homes.
Azzara said she was the only person in her unit home at the time of the gas leak, pointing out that the worker sent to fix the mailbox promptly called 9-1-1 after he hit the gas line.
“Nothing bad happened — no explosions, no fire — everyone’s safe,” Azzara said. “Everyone was evacuated and the person that hit the gas sign called it in immediately.”
