Who should I call about a suspected gas leak — the gas company or a fireplace technician?
If you can smell gas right now, that's the utility's emergency line or 911 — called from outside the house. The gas utility or your propane supplier will respond around the clock and shut things off at no charge. Finding and repairing the leak is the second call, and that's a licensed gas contractor like us — the utility's responsibility ends at the meter or the tank.
Call one: make it safe
An active gas smell is an emergency-response situation, not a scheduling situation. Get everyone out without touching switches or lighting anything, then — from the driveway — call your natural-gas utility's emergency number or 911, or your propane supplier if you're on LP. They come out any hour, sweep the area with instruments, and shut off the supply at the meter or tank. There's no bill for that visit and no judgment if it turns out to be minor. This is the one moment where a fireplace company is the wrong first call, ours included: we fix gas systems, but the utility controls the supply.
Call two: find it and fix it
Here's what surprises homeowners — the utility makes it safe, but they don't repair anything on your side of the meter. You're left with the gas off and a leak somewhere in your piping or appliance, and that repair is licensed gas-contractor work under North Carolina law. That's us. We trace the leak with an electronic detector, pressure-test the full run with a manometer, make the repair, retest, and pull a permit when the scope requires one, so the county inspector signs off and your homeowner's insurance has nothing to question. Then we relight and safety-check your fireplace before we leave.
Where responsibility actually changes hands in WNC
On natural gas — the Asheville and Hendersonville mains, Fletcher, Arden — the utility owns everything up to your meter; every inch past it is yours. On propane — Fairview, Candler, Brevard, and the cabins — the supplier owns the tank and typically its regulator, and the piping downstream to your fireplace is yours. That downstream side is exactly the territory we work in every day, and our line is answered 24/7: (828) 545-0525. Save it next to the utility's emergency number, in that order.
How we can help
Related questions
- What should I do if I smell gas near my fireplace?
- How do I check my gas fireplace for a gas leak?
- Where is the gas shutoff valve for my fireplace, and how do I turn it off in an emergency?
- What should I do if my gas fireplace won't turn off?
- Is propane more dangerous than natural gas for a fireplace?
- Can a gas fireplace cause carbon monoxide poisoning?
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