Fears for a fire or potential explosion led authorities to evacuate a Portimão petrol station on Saturday night (July 1) due to a gas leak.
The leak was flagged by a motorist who was filling up his LPG car at the Prio fuel station, on the busy V6 avenue.
“LPG is denser than air and doesn’t dissipate. It can spread over the pavement and all it needs is a spark to start a fire,” local fire commander Richard Marques explained.
The station was evacuated at 11.07pm and a security perimeter set up allowing firefighters to use foam and water to dissolve the gas.
Once the all-clear was given – via use of a special gas detector – an LPG technician was allowed in to fix the leak.
The fuel station reopened two-and-a-half hours later, in the early hours of Sunday morning.
