SHIRLEY, N.Y. (AP) — A propane gas leak at a shopping center has spurred the evacuation of 900 homes and shut down roads and railroad service in part of New York's Long Island.
Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy says the evacuations could last until Sunday in a roughly square-mile section of the towns of Mastic and Shirley.
Residents were told to get out around 1:30 a.m. Saturday, shortly after a propane delivery driver discovered the leak in a 30,000-gallon tank near a Kohl's department store. Levy says the tank was as much as half-full.
No one has been hurt. Levy says the evacuations are a precaution in case there's a risk of an explosion.
He says a tanker is en route to siphon the remaining propane from the tank. Officials also are trying to freeze the gas to stop the leak.
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