Gas leak forces evacuation of building, street closures Fire crews found 'explosive levels of natural gas' By Sarah Riley News-Chronicle A natural gas leak forced the closure of several blocks of traffic and a commercial and residential building at 241 N. Broadway Tuesday afternoon. Green Bay Fire Department Battalion Chief Tim Smits said the department evacuated one block on each side of the building after the leak was detected. Nearby streets and the Main Street bridge were closed as a precaution when the gas level became dangerous. "At one point, we had explosive levels of natural gas," Smits said. "It could have been a bad situation." A Wisconsin Public Service Corp. employee was called to the scene at about 2 p.m. to investigate a natural gas smell on the second and third floors of the building. Gas and power to the building were cut off until the source of the leak could be located. "The leak was coming from the walls, which made it difficult," Smits said. "We did some destruction of walls." The building was ventilated and the gas levels were lowered to 2 percent saturation, a safe level. At approximately 4 p.m., power and gas were restored to the building, according to WPS spokesman Jim Streed. WPS later determined that the leak came from two sources: an appliance and the building's internal piping. No further investigation was needed, Streed said. Smits said 20-30 people were evacuated and 20-25 fire crew members were called to the scene. The streets were reopened after the area was secured late in the afternoon, except for the 200 block of North Broadway, which remained closed into the evening.