Gas leak closes Torrington’s Main Street

TORRINGTON — After discovering a gas leak inside a Main Street restaurant, members of the Torrington Fire Department evacuated a building and shut down the street.

Chelsea Murray Kaneb and her husband Michael Kaneb, owners of the newly opened Hummingbird Cafe on the second floor at 79 Main St., said they were getting “whiffs” of a gas odor in the early afternoon, and decided to notify the fire department.

“Everyone that was coming into the cafe was saying they smelled gas,” Murray Kaneb said. “It wasn’t super strong, but people were smelling it, so we decided to call the fire department. They evacuated the building and shut down the street.”

According to Battalion Chief Thomas Sterling, the gas leak was coming from a cooking appliance inside Mambo, a restaurant and club that is only open on the weekends.

“We found a leak on the first floor of the building in the Mambo cafe, with one of their cooking appliances, and it was going up inside the building,” Sterling said. “The tenants got concerned and called us. Once we made entry into the restaurant we were hit with the odor of natural gas ... we shut the gas line off and cleared the building.

“We were lucky, because as we pulled up, a representative from Eversource from the gas (division) was on the scene,” Sterling said.

Firefighters evacuated KidsPlay Children’s Museum as well as the restaurants.

“We cleared the air and the Eversource rep deemed the building safe,” Sterling said. “Another lucky thing was that someone from the Downtown Partners was there, and they had a key to get into (Mambo) and they were able to unlock the door for us. Usually we have to call, and wait, but everyone showed up at the same time.”

“It was a series of events that led to calling the Fire Department, and they jumped into action,” Murray Kaneb said. “We’re very grateful to them.

“People were thanking the Hummingbird Cafe for making the call and shutting down the street that could potentially have save people’s lives, so we’re glad we decided to go with our gut and make the call,” she said. “We’re sorry for the momentary inconvenience ... but we’re happy everyone was safe.”

John Murray / Contributed photo Customers wait outside while the Torrington Fire Department investigates a gas leak at 79 Main St. The leak was discovered inside Mambo on the first floor, where it was contained. Firefighters evacuated the building as a precaution and within 30 minutes it was cleared.