Story posted Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Gas Leak Fire Burns Nicor Employee
A Nicor Gas employee was burned when a leaking gas main in Mt. Prospect caught on fire the evening of Feb. 18.
Two employees were checking a report of a leak in an apartment building in the 300 block of Hawthorne Circle at about 7:12 p.m. They discovered the gas main leading to the meter was leaking and the gas was flowing into the building's laundry room. When they began excavating around the leak, the leak caught fire, burning the face of one of the employees. They were able to extinguish the blaze with a portable fire extinguisher and called the fire department. While the one administered first aid to the other, the main caught fire a second time and was again extinguished by the employees. Firefighters found additional refuse burning in the laundry room and put that out as well.
The injured worker was taken to Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge and later transferred to the University of Chicago Medical Center Burn Unit for additional treatment. According to the police report, his injuries were not life threatening.
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