Reminder: If you smell gas, leave your house
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There's a reason — a really, really good reason — that natural gas companies add a rotten-egg smell to their otherwise odorless product: Gas leaks are dangerous, and the best way to find them is with your nose. Wednesday's huge gas-leak explosion in New York City, which leveled two buildings and killed at least six people, is a sad reminder of that danger.
Digg's Josh Petri has taken the occasion to remind everyone that if you smell gas in your home, open the windows and leave, immediately. Smell isn't the only way to detect a leak — a hissing sound, dead houseplants, or bubbles in flooded areas are also red flags — but it's the most obvious one. Don't let the jocular tone of Petri's article dissuade you from reading about the dangers and aging infrastructure of natural gas delivery. Almost as important as the advice to leave your home and call the utility company (or 911), though, is Petri's list of what not to do if you smell gas:
Do not, under any circumstances:
• Flip any switches
• Unplug or plug in any electronics
• Use a telephone
• Start your car
• Use an open flame [Digg]
Most deadly gas explosions aren't as dramatic as the ones in Harlem, but they happen all over the country, and they kill people. Be safe.
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