Burkitt Ridge Evacuation Ends After Week-Long Gas Leak in Antioch

Residents of the Burkitt Ridge community in Antioch can return to their homes. The Nashville Fire Department ended its evacuation order Thursday afternoon, October 29, closing out an emergency response that began early Saturday morning.

Carbon monoxide alarms inside an apartment building in the community first sounded high readings. Fire crews who responded also found dangerous levels of methane gas in that building and in some nearby townhomes. The evacuation covered the apartment building and six townhomes.

Preliminary assessments by the Nashville Fire Department pointed to construction work in the community as a possible cause, saying it could have disturbed naturally occurring underground gases. The department has not conclusively identified the source of the gases.

On Thursday, the developer dug a ventilation trench at the construction site to release the gas safely. Nashville Fire Department spokesperson Kendra Taylor said the department concluded its on-site monitoring and emergency response operations in a statement: "With atmospheric conditions no longer requiring emergency intervention, the Nashville Fire Department is officially concluding its on-site monitoring and emergency response operations associated with this incident."

Residents had already been dealing with construction work at Burkitt Ridge before the gas leak. Zak Cook bought his townhome in part because he was told the adjacent property would remain open green space. He said he learned of construction plans only after receiving a blasting notice in the mail about two weeks ago, followed by drilling and then blasting the next week. Regent Homes is the developer building the homes and carrying out the construction work.

The evacuation pushed residents out of their homes in the middle of the night. Cook left with his cats and stayed with a friend. Others booked hotels and short-term rentals. Several residents said they left their homes even though they fell outside the evacuation order, after firefighters checking levels inside advised them to go.

Carly Scheuer, a mother of two young children, described that advice as binding. "If a fireman looks you in the eye and says, 'I would not be in this building, and it's not safe for little kids,' that's mandatory, in my opinion. So that's been really frustrating," she said.

Residents said they have tried to reach Regent Homes for answers about the construction and have not been able to get in touch with the company.

Cook questioned the way the work was carried out near occupied homes. "I mean, it seems like it's a little bit negligent and, like, honestly careless, the way they're going about the construction," he said. He said the site should have been leveled before houses were built next to it.

The Nashville Fire Department ended its on-site monitoring and emergency response operations Thursday afternoon.