Heavy snow prompts gas leak concerns
By Barbara Barte-Osborn, Sacramento Bee
Some Placer County communities atop Donner Summit and on Lake Tahoe’s west shore are beginning to experience gas leaks caused by heavy snow, as some Truckee-area neighbors did earlier this month.
Robert Miller, a Placer public information officer, reported about half a dozen leaks, caused by snow covering propane tanks.
Propane gas becomes liquid when cold enough and can travel through snow and/or under houses, where it can explode if it meets an ignition source, Miller said.
That fact is keeping workers from using snowplows, which could trigger a spark, to reach the tanks and shut them off.