Gas Leak Causes Fire In Town Of Trenton

Forty to fifty foot flames shot out of a natural gas valve vent stack on Highway 68 and Ver Hage  Road in the Town of Trenton Wednesday morning. The roads were closed for about two hours while the gas supply was shut off and pressure was drained from the line. Waupun Fire Chief B.J. DeMaa says two properties had to be evacuated, but there were no injuries during the fire. Alliant Energy had all their safety measures in place and none of their staff or firefighters were injured. Alliant Energy was working on the gas line when in the process of purging it gas contacted an ignition source and began to burn. The initial investigation suggests that a shutoff valve located on the main line running along Highway 68 malfunctioned and didn’t close properly. That failure resulted in gas continuing to feed the line being worked on alongside Ver Hage Road. No buildings were affected but a communications line was damaged by the fire. About 10 to 15 customers were without natural gas service for about two hours. The time of the fire call was just before 8:30 a.m. (Waupun Community Fire Department photos)