LOUISVILLE — Louisville fire, with Village of Massena firefighters providing standby coverage, safely responded to the scene of a propane leak coming from a 500-pound, underground propane tank.

Officials say the incident took place on May 9 at a home on State Highway 131 around 4:30 p.m.

The home was evacuated and neighbors were notified, with St. Lawrence County Emergency Services Director Matthew Denner responded to the scene shortly after.

“The tank was 500 gallons and was 50 percent full, so we had to flare it beginning at 10:30 p.m.and finished up around 6 a.m.,” Denner said.

Hazmat trained OFPC Fire Protection Specialists responded from Oswego and the Albany area, Denner said.

Flaring equipment from the Oswego City Fire Department was utilized on scene to prevent the propane from collecting on the ground, helping to avoid a potential explosion and uncontrollable fire, officials said.

“We are part of a hazmat consortium that bought two units through New York State grants, so we will have units positioned much closer to us in the event this happens again. Our hazmat team is now trained to use them, so we can respond much faster,” Denner said.

Louisville First Assistant Chief Matt LaForce was the incident commander who responded to the leak and said the situation was touchy but handled very well by the crew.

“We had probably over 20 people on site. We had to inform the neighbors of the leak and told everyone to stay inside. We then set up our hoses and began a pattern spray to contain the gas and keep it away from the houses,” LaForce said.

Louisville Fire was officially back in service by 7:01 a.m.