What To Do and Not Do If You Think There’s a Gas Leak in Amarillo

I got a phone call around nine in the morning yesterday from my daughter. She smelled what she thought was a gas leak. She said it was not inside our house. She could smell it near my back porch.

I had her walk out around the yard to see where else she could smell it. This would not normally really be anything she would care about but she is now a mom. Her baby girl was at my house so she was concerned.

She wondered if she should leave the house. She was going through all of the options. She walked to the front yard and could smell it there too. I, being the good Mimi that I am, started to get my work done so I could get home. They were heading to the gym anyway.

I used my handy dandy computer to Google what I should do. So my options were to call a plumber or to call the gas company. I figured there was a gas leak somewhere in my yard or in my neighborhood at least.

During all of this, my daughter called her dad to see if they could go to his house after the gym if she needed to. She told him about the gas smell in our neighborhood near Georgia Street. He said he was on Western and he could smell it too.

So I went outside here at the radio station near Bell and yep, I could smell it too. So I knew that my computer research was not needed. The problem was not at my house. So there was a little relief.

After that, I saw people start to ask on Facebook about the smell.

I didn't expect to see that the Amarillo Fire Department had to come out and ask people to not call 9-1-1 in this situation. They wanted anyone to call Atmos Energy if there were any concerns. I do get it. If you really think your home is going to explode by all means call 911, otherwise check with the emergency number of the gas company.

One phone call to Atmos brought this answer to what that smell may have been:

The person I talked to with atmos said they think the smell was from a truck carrying the “oderant” (I’m guessing the smelly stuff added to natural gas ?) It must have not been properly capped while it drove through town.

That makes sense and was one of my go-to's when I was first told about the gas smell. So in a similar situation and you think there is a problem you can call Atmos at their emergency number 866-322-8667. You can also call a local plumber but do not call 911.

They have not yet figured out for sure what was causing the issue here in Amarillo.