Stove Oil Leaking on Teal Way

Jay Barrett/KMXT
There’s a suspected leaking stove oil tank causing a stink in Woodland Acres today. Bayside Fire Chief Bob Himes said he received a report of a strong smell of diesel early yesterday morning and later tracked it to a home on Teal Way:
“We don’t have any real confirmation yet. We’ve got a suspect tank, an underground fuel tank for heating fuel that we are investigating (and) the property owner is having checked out.”
Himes said the homeowner is currently out of town, but told him that he noticed an increase in his fuel bill, and thought someone was stealing his oil. Himes says the tank is probably 300- to 500- gallons in size, but he’s not sure how long it might have been leaking, or how much may have escaped:
“It’s not a very significant amount, but there is enough where there’s some oil emulsified and there’s a light sheen on the water in the drainage creek.”
He said there’s no danger of fire or explosion from the spilled fuel, and he thinks today’s wind will help dissipate the smell. In the meantime, he suggests folks keep their kids and pets away from the ditch, if for nothing else than to keep them from tracking the smell inside.
We’ll have more on this story Monday on KMXT News.