Report of Gas Odor Draws Fire Department and PGW

A report of a strong gas odor brought emergency responders to the corner of Germantown and Southampton avenues Thursday night.

At about 10 p.m., two fire trucks, an ambulance, a Philadelphia police officer and a Philadelphia Gas Works truck were on scene after a report was received of a strong gas odor.

The officer, who asked not to be named, said that responders are taking extra precautions on reports of a gas odor after the Jan. 19 gas explosion in the Tacony section of Philadelphia, which killed a utility worker.

“So many trucks show up for a call on a gas leak. We do it to be on the safe side,” the officer said.

The trucks were gone by 10:30 p.m. Cameron Kline, a spokesman for PGW, said that he had not received an emergency response call.

“It’s relatively quiet stuff, a check and then moving on. They must have checked it out, did a reading and didn’t find anything additional that needed to be done,” Kline said.