By By JAMES COLLINS / Niles Daily Star
NILES -- A suspected gas leak on Wednesday morning caused portions of Niles-Buchanan Road to be closed.
Public safety officials arrived on the scene at approximately 10:30 a.m. after dispatch received a call concerning an odor of gas in the area. They responded to an area of Niles-Buchanan Road between Lincoln and Phillip Road.
Niles City Fire Chief Larry Lamb said there was a heavy smell of gas upon arrival, but it ended up being relatively minor.
He said they closed Niles-Buchanan Road from Lincoln to Philip and followed precautions to ensure everyone's safety.
The Niles City Fire Department, Niles Township Fire Department, Niles City Police Department and the Niles Police dispatch center all played an instrumental role in taking the necessary precautions, according to Lamb.
Those precautions involved sealing off the area from traffic and starting a systematic search for the origin of the gas leak.
Lamb said they were able to narrow down the source of the odor to the area between the Niles city limit sign and King Road.
Officials were on the scene for two hours and employees of the Semco Energy and Gas Company eventually came out to take care of the problem.
Semco officials canvassed the whole area and went door to door to try to determine the cause.
Lamb was not sure what the gas company concluded, but said it could have been a minor malfunction and "it is very possible that the problem took care of itself."
Semco officials were not available for comment on the exact origin of the gas leak.