Crews worked through the early hours Thursday to stop a large gas leak at a shopping center in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.
Officials say an underground gas main near the Montgomery Commons Shopping Center on the 1200 block of Welsh Road in North Wales somehow broke late Wednesday night.
The incident began when a local pizza shop owner reported problems with his lights. As crews arrived on the scene, an underground fire broke out.
"Even though we secured, or shut off, the gas services and electric services to the interior of the building we couldn't control the gas leak because it was underground," said Montgomery County Township Fire Chief Bill Wegman.
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Crews quickly set up a perimeter around the shopping center as they prepared to fix the damaged main outside Redner's Warehouse Market near Freedom Drive.
The shopping center remained closed as PECO crews continued to work as the sun came up.
Officials have not yet determined the exact cause of the leak.
