Demorest police evacuated five houses and shut down portions of Georgia Street and Tomlin Alley on Sunday after a car ran over a natural gas line at the Demorest Methodist Congregational Federated Church. Apparently, the driver simply pulled too far forward and took out the line at the meter.
It happened just before 11am services were set to begin. Demorest Mayor Rick Austin tells Now Habersham the leak was significant, “There was an awful lot of gas coming out of that line. Fortunately it didn’t ignite and we got it handled.” Handling the situation meant calling in an Atlanta Gas Light crew to shut off the flow of natural gas and carefully removing the car from the gas line without causing a spark.
Austin says both the Demorest Fire Department and Police Department handled the evacuations and made sure folks in the area were safe, “They handled things very well. Nobody got hurt in what could have been a volatile situation.” The clean-up and gas line repair took about two hours to complete.
About the Demorest Methodist Congregational Federated Church:
The Methodist-Congregational Federated Church is an ecumenical fellowship. Organizationally made up of two components, the Demorest Methodist and the Union Congregational Churches; Christians from many backgrounds have found a spiritual home there.
