Lakewood and other surrounding Townships this afternoon assisted with the evacuation of approximately 40 homes after a gas leak.

At 12:15 PM New Jersey Natural Gas contacted the Brick Township Police Department for assistance with a gas leak in the area of the 400 block of Tennessee Drive.

Upon arrival of Police units, it was determined that dangerously high levels of natural gas were detected in storm drains on Tennessee Drive that required the evacuation of approximately 40 homes in the area. All of the Brick Township Fire Companies, Stations 21, 22, 23 and 24 responded along with the Brick Township Police EMS to assist in evacuations of the area homes.

Due to the extremely cold temperatures a warming tent was set up by EMS on Dartmouth Court. Several surrounding fire companies identified as, Silverton, Lakewood, Point Boro and Point Beach responded to assist with evacuations. The NJEMS Task Force also responded along with the Ocean County Fire Coordinator car 13 due to the large scale of the operation. A command post was set up at the Lake Riviera Park to coordinate evacuations.

The New Jersey Natural Gas Company located the leak in the roadway in the area of 404 Tennessee Drive at approximately 3 PM and was able to shut gas off to the area so repairs can be made. The cause of the leak is not known at this time and repair crews will be working to restore gas to the area residents. The Gas Company believes the repair will take 5-6 hours at which time gas can be restored to the approximately 40 homes.

No injuries were reported during this incident.