Gas leaks. Here's what you can do to avoid them.

A number of incidents regarding severed gas lines have kept Sault Fire Services and gas company crews busy lately.

Walmart’s Great Northern Road location closed its doors two hours earlier than usual Sunday evening after Sault Fire Services ordered the store evacuated because of a natural gas leak.

Heavy snow load caused the building’s rooftop heating unit to leak.

Union Gas crews worked to fix the problem.

Sault Fire Services responded to another situation involving a severed rooftop heating unit line at the Lowe's Home Improvement Store on Northern Avenue Sunday.

Heavy snow load was the cause of that incident as well.

Yet another gas leak Tuesday evening, in the area of White Pines Collegiate and Vocational School, forced the closure of Trunk Road between Dacey Road and Fournier Road by City Police, Fire Services and Union Gas.

“These happen mostly with flat roof buildings,” said Damon Ferris, Sault Fire Services platoon chief.

“(Residential gas customers) should check their gas meters to make sure their gas meters are clear (of snow), huge buildups of ice on the roof or a snow drift could hit the meters and sever the line . . . and check your neighbours gas line as well and make it sure its clear of snow and ice,” Ferris told SooToday.

Union Gas advises customers to keep paths to meters free from snow and ice or other obstacles, gently brush snow and ice away from meters (don’t scrape ice from the meter with a sharp tool), don’t bump a meter with a snow blower, don’t hang or lean any objects on a meter or gas piping, and not to build a deck or a shed around a meter.