Forty to fifty Mt. Vernon residents were asked to leave their homes early Friday night after a strong build up of natural gas was found in a vacant home at 907 South 21st Street. Mt. Vernon Fire Officials say Ameren was first called to the home and found the gas meter spinning fast and the house full of a potentially explosive level of gas. The gas and later electric service was turned off by Ameren, but power company officials were still concerned about a possible explosion. As a result, the fire department evacuated the 900 block of South 21st and the east side of the 900 block of South 22nd. Firemen were initially able to open the front door to naturally ventilate the gas. Once the concentration of gasdropped to a safe level, the home was entered and the back door opened to quickly dissipate the remaining gas. Fire officials placed a truck at both ends of the block in the event of a fire or explosion. They also monitored a lightning storm that ended up going around Mt. Vernon. The evacuation began around 5:15, with the residents allowed to return to their home about two hours later. - http://goo.gl/47ADN
