Just walked out of a bookbinding shop that nearly burned me alive

I was at Great Lakes Bindery downtown yesterday. Checking out their leather stash. Walked into the back room and smelled gas. Like strong gas. Turns out their water heater was leaking natural gas right next to stacks of paper and glue. Nobody noticed for hours. They had no detector anywhere. I reported it to the owner but he shrugged it off. Said it 'always smells a little funny back there.' I'm not going back. Any of you ever run into safety issues at supply shops or binders you use?

2 comments

2 Comments

blairm448d ago

Are you sure this wasn't just an old building thing? I've been in plenty of shops that have that weird basement smell, especially around old water heaters. They leak a little sometimes, it doesn't mean the whole place is gonna blow. Plus, if no one passed out or got sick, it probably wasn't that bad. The guy said it always smells funny, so maybe it's just the normal shop odor mixing with some dust or glue fumes. Were you actually smelling gas gas, or could it have been something else, like a solvent or something?

evan_morgan817d ago

Didn't someone post a PSA here a while back about gas companies adding that rotten egg smell specifically so you can catch tiny leaks? Seems like if you're second guessing it, you're missing the point.