Evacuation order lifted in Albro Lake area of Dartmouth

An evacuation order has been lifted in the area of Albro Lake Road in Dartmouth, N.S., after a natural gas leak.

An evacuation order has been lifted in the area of Albro Lake Road in Dartmouth, N.S.

Halifax Regional Fire and Emergency (HRFE) issued the evacuation order Tuesday afternoon due to a natural gas leak.

The evacuation impacted the following areas:

• Leaman Drive, west to Pinecrest Drive.
• Albro Lake Road, north to Crystal Drive.

“They (firefighters) were pounding at my door because I was on the couch and it took me a while to get my wheelchair and come over and they were still pounding and they said we’ve got to get you out of here. I said ‘I’m in an electric wheelchair but I have another one I’ve never used’ and they carried me down all the stairs in this,” said evacuee Craig Arnold.

In a social media post, Eastward Energy said the damaged section of pipe had been isolated and there is no further release of natural gas.

“Repair work is now underway, and our Operations and Construction teams will remain on site until service is safely restored to all affected customers,” reads a statement from Eastward Energy, which owns the damaged line.

Four Halifax Transit buses were dispatched to the area to provide temporary shelter for evacuees.

An emergency alert was issued around 2:50 p.m., warning people about the mandatory evacuations and urging them to stay away from the area until the leak is secured.

In a social media post, Nova Scotia power says it cut power to the area as a precaution.

“We are working with officials in the area and power will be restored when it’s safe to do so,” reads the post.

Roughly 6,172 customers were without power, according to the Nova Scotia Power outage map.

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