AUGUSTA, Maine — Employees of the Maine State Police Crime Lab were evacuated for an hour on Thursday morning because of a reported smell of gas.
Department of Public Safety spokesperson Steve McCausland said employees were evacuated for an hour from the building at 26 Hospital Street on October 3.
McCausland said this is the second report of a gas leak at the Maine State Police Crime Lab in less than three months. A gas line was obstructed on July 15, while construction was taking place and the building was evacuated.
The gas company arrived at the scene Thursday morning but McCausland did not know if they had determined what caused the smell of gas. The Augusta Fire Department was also on the scene.
McCausland said authorities and Mainers were taking extra precautions and were on heightened alert recently after the gas leak that caused a fatal explosion in Farmington on Sept. 16, killing a Farmington firefighter Captain Michael Bell.
Just a day before on Oct. 2, two streets in Orono were closed due to a gas leak.
