A gas leak on Riverside Lane on Wednesday morning prompted the evacuation of several buildings near the 17th Street Bridge, after gas leaked for about an hour near the Old House Village Hotel and Spa.
The smell of natural gas permeated the air, as Comox Valley RCMP blocked access to the road, while people from nearby business evacuated to Cliffe Avenue.
"I was in the middle of a facial massage and the front desk girl knocked on my door ... I got up and answered the door and she said there was a gas leak and you guys have evacuate as soon as possible," said Carla Forsyth, an employee at the Oh Spa inside the Old House Village Hotel.
"I told the client we had to get out. We came out and the cops came over and said you guys have to go over to the Rexall," she noted, and added she could smell gas as soon as she left the building.
Susan McIntyre stood outside the drugstore across the street from the spa in her bathrobe, and said she was inside receiving a treatment when she was told she had to evacuate.
"There was a knock at the door, which there usually isn't during a (spa treatment) and the lady who was tending to me came and said you must get dressed immediately and leave the building because of a gas leak," she explained, and noted she could hear and smell the gas as she was walking out.
"This is a new one. It's not the most relaxing treatment that I've had," McIntyre added with a laugh.
The gas leak was secured after an hour without incident.
photos@comoxvalleyrecord.com