100 Evacuated After Falling Ice Causes Gas Leak at Mahwah Business Park

About 100 people were evacuated from Mahwah’s Business Park on Ramapo Valley Road for about 45 minutes Wednesday afternoon after a fallen sheet of ice burst a gas pipe, township Police Chief Jim Batelli confirmed.

According to Batelli, a large sheet of ice fell from the roof of one of the buildings before 1 p.m. and severed an outdoor gas line.

“Whenever a line breaks, you can always smell it. But, with this outdoor line, the gas is pressurized, so you could hear it, too. It sounded like a jet engine, that’s how much pressure is under there,” he said.

PSE&G shut gas to the complex and checked the gas levels in several of the business park’s buildings before allowing employees to go back inside, Batelli said.

The Mahwah PD, FD, and the gas company responded to the scene.