Austin Fire Department issues PSA after gas smell fills city

If you smelled gas in Austin on Wednesday, January, 17, you’re not alone. The Austin Fire Department got so many 911 calls about the smell that they issued a PSA on X (formerly known as Twitter) asking the public not to call in a general outdoor gas odor.

The source of the smell was tracked to an oil field in the Luling area. Due to the oil field’s proximity to Austin, a natural gas smell often wafts into the city on days that the wind pattern changes after a cold night, like the ones the city has been experiencing since Saturday, January 14, Austin Fire Department wrote on X. 

Not surprisingly, some people couldn’t help but add humor to the situation. “Yeeeaaahhhh…I’m sorry about that, next time I’ll put a lid on that cabrito. #BlindManBBQ,” @joelrobertperez replied to AFD’s post.