Residents of Quemahoning Towers, 1700 Veil Ave., Windber, were evacuated around 10:30 a.m. Monday when a hot water heating system on the roof malfunctioned, leaking oil into the ventilation system and sending a strong odor of oil throughout the building.
A third-party contractor was working on the boiler system when a mechanical defect caused the system to overflow and leak about 20 gallons of heating oil into the building's heating, ventilation and air conditioning system, according to Anson Bloom, deputy chief of the Windber Fire Department.
"Eventually the entire building was evacuated due to the strong smell of fuel oil," Bloom said.
Approximately 150 residents were evacuated to the Calvary United Methodist Church nearby while the leak was contained and the building was ventilated.