What should I do if I smell gas near my fireplace?
Brevard is propane country for most homes outside the town center, so if you catch that rotten-egg smell, walk everyone outside without flipping a switch and call your propane supplier's emergency line — or 911 — from the yard. Propane is heavier than air and settles low, so check nothing and leave. Once it's safe, we're at (828) 545-0525.
Propane country, and a fuel that settles low
Most Brevard homes outside the town center run on propane — Connestee Falls, Sherwood Forest, and the cabins toward Pisgah are almost all LP. That changes both who you call and where to be alert. Propane is heavier than air, so a leak doesn't rise and vent the way natural gas does; it slides downhill and collects near the floor, in crawlspace hatches, and around basement steps. If you smell rotten-egg gas down low rather than at nose height, treat it as the real thing, get everyone outside, and call your propane supplier's emergency line or 911 from the yard.
Wet county, damp low spaces
Transylvania County catches more than eighty inches of rain a year, and it shows in Brevard's crawlspaces and chimney chases — damp, prone to rusted dampers and spalled brick. That same low, enclosed space is exactly where leaking propane gathers instead of clearing on its own. Moisture is also hard on the metal fittings inside a gas appliance over time. None of it changes the response: don't flip a switch, don't try to find the source, don't relight anything to burn it off — leave, and make the call from well clear of the house.
The supplier makes it safe; the Transylvania permit is ours
Your propane supplier will shut the tank off and confirm the air is clear, but they don't repair house piping or a fireplace — that's licensed gas-contractor work in North Carolina, our lane, not a mason's or a handyman's. We locate the leak with proper instruments, repair the fitting or line, and pressure-test the system before we call it done, pulling the permit with Transylvania County when the work requires one. Brevard is about forty minutes southwest of our Asheville showroom, and the 24/7 number is (828) 545-0525.
Fireplace help in Brevard
We install and service fireplaces throughout Brevard and the rest of Transylvania County — just 40 minutes southwest from our Asheville-area showroom.
Related questions
- How do I check my gas fireplace for a gas leak?
- Who should I call about a suspected gas leak — the gas company or a fireplace technician?
- Where is the gas shutoff valve for my fireplace, and how do I turn it off in an emergency?
- Can a gas fireplace explode?
- Why does my gas fireplace smell like gas while it's running?