On March 1st, 2014 at 05:13pm, City of Hudson Firefighters were dispatched to 753 Columbia Street for an odor of gasoline inside the residence.

Upon arrival crews found a strong odor of gasoline in the basement and 1st floor levels of the building. Upon checking the immediate area, crews also found odors in neighboring buildings and storm drains.

Crews spent the next several hours checking over 25 buildings, residential and commercial for odors and the source. The source could not be located. While crews were checking the buildings, Engine 30 and Engine Rescue 279 began flushing the sewer lines by running water from the hydrants directly into them.

After several hours crews located the source at the Hess Gas Station at the corner of State and Green Streets. A fill pipe that leads into the underground tank had broken and caused gasoline to leak into the sewer lines.

Hess Corporation Maintenance as well as the NYS DEC Spill Response were requested to the scene to make necessary repairs.

As crews were waiting for repairs to be made, Columbia County 911 dispatched crews at 11:43pm to a reported structure fire at 227 Columbia Street in the City. Engine 30 arrived on scene and reported a working fire in the kitchen. Mutual Aid was requested from the Catskill and Greenport Fire Departments. A quick knockdown was made and the house was a save. After overhaul was completed, crews returned the gas odor at Hess.

After several more hours, the repairs were made to the pipe and the sewer lines were once again flushed. All odors had dissipated and crews went back into service at 05:17am Sunday morning.

The Hudson Fire Department was assisted on scene by the City of Hudson DPW, Water Department, Police Department, and National Grid.