CHARLOTTE AMALIE — Traffic in the downtown area of St. Thomas came to a virtual halt after a reported gas leak shut down the Farrelly Justice Center and surrounding area on Wednesday.
The gas leak led to a mass evacuation on the St. Thomas jail with inmates being transported to the nearby Virgin Islands Legislature building for safe keeping.
A federal court employee reported that a 500-gallon propane tank had ruptured about 1 p.m. on Wednesday, leading to the evacuation of the territorial and federal justice complex.
“Fire Services responded and found the propane tank leaking severely from the bottom,” Virgin Islands Fire Services Director Daryl George told the Virgin Islands Daily News. “We set up our Incident Command, evacuated the general area by standard and sent into an operation on how to get the tank moved.”
George added that fire crews, with the help of a front end loader from American Bridge, the contractor hired to do the Veterans Drive improvement project, was finally able to safely steady and remove the damaged fuel tank.
