Some residents in the south and southwest Chicago suburbs reported smelling strong natural gas odors Wednesday morning, with hundreds calling emergency responders.
NICOR officials told NBC 5 they had begun receiving calls at approximately 5 a.m. from an area including Glenwood and Crestwood, suburbs approximately 20 miles southwest of Chicago.
In all, more than 600 calls were received by the company about the smell, with officials saying the odor was being carried from west-to-east by the wind on Wednesday morning.
Just before 7 a.m., the Village of Tinley Park Public Safety posted to Facebook indicating officials were looking into the matter.
"The 911 center is receiving calls for odor of natural gas outside," the post from the Village said. "Many of the suburbs to the east of Tinley Park are getting reports as well. The BP Refinery in Whiting is actively looking into this."
The company is continuing to work to identify the cause of the odor, and no further information was available.
Local
Dozens of comments on Facebook posts from Oak Forest residents reported smelling the odor in the area.
The City of Oak Forest also posted about the natural gas odor to social media.
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"We are aware of the natural gas order in town," the post to X, formerly known as Twitter, said. "Other communities are also experiencing this issue and NICOR is working locating the problem."
Earlier this month, residents in the northern suburbs reported smelling a natural gas, or "rotten egg" smell. Officials later determined that the odor was believed to have come from "maintenance of equipment located in Cedar County, Iowa," which later drifted into the Chicago area.
This story will be updated as more information becomes available.
