T. J. ROYAL
Several residents were evacuated late last month in Princeville, due to what is thought to have been a gasoline spill at Bridgers Food Store on Main Street.
Princeville Fire Chief Billy Boddie said around 15 residences near the store were evacuated, after what was believed to have been a gasoline spill at the food store/gas station on the night of May 29.
Conetoe Volunteer Fire Department, Speed Volunteer Fire Department and P & F Environmental out of Rocky Mount responded to the spill, while Princeville Police helped evacuate the residents, Edgecombe County Deputy Fire Marshal and Assistant Emergency Services Director George Cherry said. The call was made about the spill around 8:30 p.m. that night, but residents were allowed to go back to their homes after crews worked the scene around three hours, he added.
The initial reading at the scene suggested that water had gotten into the 1,500-plus gallon gasoline tank underneath the front parking lot of Bridgers Food Store, possibly pushing gasoline outside, Cherry said.
While he was told there was a strong scent of gasoline earlier that evening, Cherry said he only detected a "faint odor" once he arrived at the scene. He noted that it does not take a great amount of gasoline to produce a strong odor through the air.
However, Boddie said that because of the possibility of the escaped gas igniting, railway cars were delayed from passing through for a couple of hours that Friday night, to prevent any complications from flying sparks.
"That was a situation for a moment," Boddie said, adding that it "did not appear" any gasoline seeped into the Tar River.
Bridgers Store Manager Nader Odeh said that his business has been back to selling gasoline since the incident 12 days ago.
Odeh noted that a construction crew had hit a large water line just across from the store on Black Street a few days prior to the gasoline spill incident.
"I was concerned about the safety of everybody" on May 29 when he had heard about what had happened that night, he added.
How the whole incident played out seemed "just weird" to him, Odeh said, adding that they run a business, but at the same time were very concerned about nearby residents' safety.
"I'm glad we got it taken care of," he added.
