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Leave the house first, call 911 before anything else
Furnace Smells Like Gas: Leave First, Call Second
Leave first, call second. Get everyone out of the house without flipping switches, lighting anything, or using anything that can spark, then call 911 and Spire's 24-hour gas emergency line from outside. Natural gas is given its rotten-egg smell on purpose, so you notice it. Swiss Air comes third, after you're safe.
Do this first
The first minutes, in order
- Get everyone, and pets, outside immediately. Leave the door open behind you on your way out.
- Do not operate light switches, thermostats, garage-door openers, lighters, or phones while inside. A spark is the danger.
- From outside, call 911, then Spire's 24-hour gas emergency line (Spire is the natural gas utility for the O'Fallon and St. Louis metro; the number is on your gas bill and at spireenergy.com).
- Stay out until the fire department or Spire says the home is safe. Never go back in to open windows or find the source.
- After the utility makes the home safe, have the furnace and its gas connections professionally inspected before the system runs again, that's where we come in.
Safety first
- Never search for a gas leak yourself, not with a flame, not with a phone flashlight, not by smell.
- Don't restart the furnace after a gas event until it has been inspected, even if the smell is gone.
- A faint, brief gas smell at the first fall startup can be dust burning off, but you can't tell the difference from inside. When in doubt, get out.
Stop troubleshooting and call when…
- Any gas smell you can't immediately trace to a briefly extinguished stove burner.
- A hissing sound near gas lines or the meter.
- A carbon monoxide alarm sounding, treat it exactly like a gas leak: out first, 911 from outside.
- Anyone in the home feeling dizzy, nauseated, or unusually sleepy along with any of the above.
When you call Swiss Air
What we'll actually do
- Once Spire or the fire department has made the home safe, we inspect the furnace side: burners, gas valve, ignition, flexible connector, and the heat exchanger.
- Test for combustion leaks and verify the venting is drafting the way it should.
- Repair what's ours to repair with upfront pricing, and tell you plainly if the problem is on the utility's side or needs a different licensed trade.
- Answer 24/7, because gas events don't schedule themselves.
Quick answers
Frequently asked
- I smell gas, should I open the windows before I leave?
- No. Just get everyone out. Opening windows costs time, and operating anything on your way, fans, switches, the garage door, risks a spark. Leave the door open behind you as you exit and make the calls from outside.
- Who do I call first: 911, Spire, or Swiss Air?
- 911 first, then Spire's 24-hour gas emergency line, both from outside the house. They make the home safe; that's their job and they're good at it. Call Swiss Air third, once you're safe, to inspect and repair the furnace before it runs again.
- My CO alarm is going off but I don't smell anything, is that real?
- Treat it as real. Carbon monoxide is colorless and odorless, the alarm is the only warning you get. Get everyone to fresh air and call 911 from outside. Before the furnace or any fuel-burning appliance runs again, have it professionally inspected; a cracked heat exchanger or blocked flue is the usual culprit.
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