Two fire districts worked an underground gas leak at the Sky Sail community in Collier County on Sunday after a pipe was struck by construction digging, and crews held it with clamps until the gas utility arrived

Two fire districts worked an underground gas leak at the Sky Sail community in Collier County on Sunday after a pipe was struck during construction digging, and crews held it until the gas utility arrived.

Gulf Coast News, in a story stamped half past six on Sunday evening and credited to Layza Pinero Resto, reports that crews with the North Collier Fire Rescue District and the Greater Naples Fire Rescue District responded to an active leak in the community.

What the firefighters said

Firefighters say an underground gas pipe was damaged during construction digging, and that crews worked to mitigate the hazard using specialised clamps.

Crews controlled the situation until TECO Gas arrived on the scene. On that account the leak was brought under control and handed to the utility, which is why this item carries no breaking flag.

The outlet also quotes firefighters on what a broken gas line can do in general terms, that it can create serious hazards including the potential for fire or explosion and the possibility of gas migrating into surrounding areas or structures. That is the reason crews treat a struck pipe seriously. It is not a description of what happened at Sky Sail, and no source says gas reached any structure.

What has not been said

Four sentences is the whole of the published record.

No one has said how many homes were affected, whether anybody was evacuated, whether any road was closed, or whether anyone was hurt. No street or address has been given, and the location is not stated more precisely than the community and the county.

No contractor, operator or individual has been named, and nothing here assigns fault to anyone for striking the pipe.

One outlet, and both agencies silent on their own sites

This desk went to both responding districts directly and got nothing from either.

North Collier Fire Rescue's site refuses an ordinary request outright, and once read properly it carries no notice on this at all. Greater Naples Fire Rescue's news list has published nothing newer than a Station 74 item dated 21 July and the Collier County burn ban being lifted on 1 July.

Both districts put incident statements out through channels this desk does not read. The usual second newsroom could not be checked either, because WINK News rate limited the request on this run.

So this is one outlet reporting what firefighters told it, presented as that rather than as something verified against a primary source.

The part that is useful whatever else is missing

If you smell gas, do not go looking for the leak and do not touch switches or anything that could spark. Get out and away from the building, then call 911 and the gas utility from outside.

Digging near a buried line is what started this one. Anyone about to break ground on a property in Collier County can dial 811 for Sunshine 811, the state notification service, before a shovel goes in.