Oil tank cleaning at a vehicle oil change shop was the suspected cause of a natural gas-like odour that was detected in downtown Red Deer on Thursday morning.
Stewart McTavish, platoon chief with Red Deer Emergency Services, said several calls came in from the general public about 10:30 a.m.
“Some of the businesses kind of self-evacuated, but we were never dispatched to any calls. They never called 911,” McTavish said.
He said the smell was believed to have originated around 46th Street and 49th Avenue, but emergency services can’t confirm that because emergency staff were not called out.
Staff are doing a follow-up investigation.