A gas leak that sprung just after the noon hour in downtown Hope Sunday caused several tenants to be told to stay out of buildings on a day when not lot of business occurs there.

Hope Fire Chief Todd Martin said of the incident, “From my understanding some bricks fell off of the Law Firm building and hit a gas meter. Some of the buildings filled up with gas and were evacuated. Hope Fire Department then remained on scene in standby mode while the gas company temporarily capped the line.”

Hope Police Chief Tomlin released this statement: "On Sunday at approximately 1:00 p.m, the Hope Police Department along with the Hope Fire Department responded to a call for service at 203 South Main in reference to a report that one of the walls of the structure had fallen and a gas leak was present.  Summit Gas company and Hope Water and Light both responded to the scene and worked several hours to get the situation under control.  

"Hope Police and Fire cleared the scene at approximately 5:15pm."

As she was driving toward Interstate-30 Sunday, Hope-Hempstead Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Christy Burns said she received a call from the owner of the building that contains the chamber’s offices, located at the corner of East Second and South Main, who said he needed Burns’ key so the building’s furnace could be turned off.

Electricity was also turned off for the city block to reduce the chances of a spark igniting the gas that settled around the area.

One business owner said the leak continued until the late evening, with business able to be resumed the next day.

On Tuesday afternoon part of the brick wall behind the former Arrington Law Firm building on East Second Street could be seen to have collapsed and caution tape was placed around the place where the meter had fallen.