Natural gas leak in Chesaning
Consumers Energy crews work on gas leak.
/ Matt Holifield
CHESANING -- The timing couldn't have been worse.
A natural gas leak forced people out of their homes in Chesaning on the coldest night of the year.
Residents in a 6 block section of the city were told to leave their homes around midnight Monday.
At the time temperatures were near zero.
Fire officials say the leak started when a regulator malfunctioned at a Consumers Energy substation on Lansing Street.
Residents say they heard a loud hissing sound and could smell the gas.
A Chesaning firefighter says 26 people took temporary shelter in the fire department, while Consumers Energy crews worked to repair the leak.
About 2 hours after it started, the leak was fixed and residents were allowed to go back to their homes.
No one was injured. It's unclear what caused the valve to break.
