Gas leak in Shirley shuts roads, LIRR

 A leak from a 30,000-gallon propane gas tank behind a Kohl’s department store early Saturday on Montauk Highway in Shirley has led to the evacuation of more than 175 residents in the nearby area, the closing of some roads and a temporary halt to Long Island Rail Road service between Speonk and Patchogue, Suffolk County police and railroad officials said.

A Suffolk Office of Emergency Management official said at 8:30 a.m. that the leak was “still active.”

There were no immediate reports of injuries. The Suffolk County Chapter of the American Red Cross has opened an evacuation shelter at William Floyd High School in Mastic Beach.

Brookhaven Town Supervisor Mark Lesko is scheduled to speak at 11 a.m. to those evacuated at William Floyd High School.

Police said the gas leak was discovered at about 1:13 a.m. at the Kohl’s at 999 Montauk Hwy. They said a propane truck was making a delivery when the driver noticed gas emanating from a tank below ground. The driver was able to shut down his delivery vehicle.

Craig Cooper, a Red Cross spokesman, said, “The hot zone where the gas is keeps moving around.” He said some streets in the immediate area have been closed.

Cooper said the Red Cross is providing people evacuated with blankets and hot coffee. He said that the SPCA had arrived at the high school. Many of those evacuated brought pets with them. The pets are being cared for by the SPCA in a mobile unit outside the high school.

A Suffolk police spokesman said that officers from the seventh, sixth and fifth precincts were evacuating people in nearby neighborhoods as a precaution.

The spokesman was unable to say how many people were evacuated or to where they were taken.

An LIRR spokesman said service had been suspended between Speonk and Patchogue. He said buses are being used to transport people between the stations.

A fire dispatcher at the Mastic Beach Fire Department said a 30,000 gallon tank at the rear of the Kohl’s was leaking. He said fire fighters are “standing by” at the scene but had no other immediate information.

The dispatcher said that the tank is used to provide heat to the Kohl’s building.