Investigation into Wheatley gas odour confirms it’s hydrogen sulfide

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RAW: Wheatley gas odour investigation and evacuation

Portion of Wheatley evacuated

A portion of Wheatley has been evacuated by emergency services due to a gas odour investigation.

The gas leak has been confirmed to be hydrogen sulfide, the same gas responsible for the 2021 explosion.

The affected area is Foster Street between Victoria Street North and Erie Street North. Around 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, the affected area was expanded to anyone within 100 metres. That means about 60 residents displaced.

The evacuation is a precaution to ensure the safety of everyone in the area. A temporary shelter has been put up at the arena on Erie Street North for those who are displaced.

Emergency services are on scene and the public is told to stay away from the area until further notice. They were initially called at 1:45 p.m.

“When we arrived on scene, we found an area at the back of the library that was bubbling with water and gas coming up, which we confirmed is hydrogen sulfide,” said CK Fire Chief, Chris Case.

The investigation is centered around the area near the library on Talbot Street.

The Hazmat team from Windsor, scientists from the University of Windsor, Entegrus, and Enbridge officials are all on scene, according to fire officials and the Chatham-Kent Public Library.

This comes just weeks after plans were released to revitalize the downtown, four years after the explosion.

“We appreciate everybody’s cooperation,” Case continued.

“It’s the last thing we want to see. We know this is a terrible thing to happen again. However, all the agencies are here working, so we just ask for your cooperation while we try and work out what’s going on and try and get the best result we can.”

‘Here we go again’

For residents like Becky Lamb, whose home backs directly onto the area under investigation, the reappearance of hydrogen sulfide is more than unsettling — it’s triggering.

Lamb said the moment she heard there was a gas smell, she called her husband from work and told him to pack a bag.

“Something’s going on,” she told him.

She said the odour brought back visceral memories of 2021.

“It’s like a wave. Back to what we smelled before,” she said. “We were just getting comfortable again … it’s heartbreaking.”

Though no explosion occurred this time, Lamb said the anxiety has returned just as sharply, “Here we go again. Like we’re going to lose it all again.”

She said neighbours are checking in on one another — but even that doesn’t ease the fear. Lamb’s family was out of their home for more than two years after the 2021 blast.

Now, they’re once again bracing for the unknown.

“My husband said he’ll never go through it again. And I said to him on the way here we [have to] stay strong together,” she said. “We [have to] get through this. And we will get through this, but it’s like, again?”