WQOW TV: Eau Claire, WI NEWS18 News, Weather, and SportsBlack River Falls courthouse evacuated for natural gas smell

Black River Falls courthouse evacuated for natural gas smell

Black River Falls (Press Release) - The Black River Falls Fire Chief was paged at 10:10 by the Jackson County Emergency Dispatch Center for a "strong odor" of natural gas within the Jackson County Courthouse and Law Enforcement Center.

Upon arriving, Chief Steve Schreiber was advised by building Maintenance Supervisor Mike Kutcher that they had turned the gas off at both meters servicing the building. WE Energies had also been contacted.

There was no gas leak/levels were found by the Fire Department or We Energies. Maintenance was power washing horse/cow manure off some entrance rugs outside the courthouse air intake. Oil from the gasoline powered pressure was leaking onto the power washers motor and was drawn into the buildings air intake. The burnt oil smelled a lot like that of natural gas.

The courthouse and law enforcement center had been evacuated by the building maintenance department while the incident was investigated which took approximately 20 minutes.