The in store smoke alarms sounded around 8.30am alerting staff and shoppers to the potential danger, who were then evacuated as a precaution. The Cootamundra Fire Brigade were notified just before 9am.

Upon arrival the Fire Brigade pinpointed the location of the leak and discovered that a total of 300 kilograms of gas was leaking from a refrigerator, caused by a cracked pipe in the plant room at the rear of the store.

Brigade Captain Les Carr said a haze from the gas was visible, however no smell was evident.

An exclusion zone was established, closing the entrances to the laneway and the car park.

The Cootamundra brigade called on Young Fire Brigade and a Hazmat team from Wagga to provide additional man power to reduce the strain on the local crew.

Mr Carr said by the time the Hazmat team arrived; the local brigade had the leak under control.

Fire brigade members were wearing fully encapsulated suits to enter the gas zone and water was sprayed into the area to disperse and break down the gas.

Mr Carr said it took just under two hours to clear the gas before the brigade handed the store back to the managers just after 11am.

Cootamundra IGA staff were allowed back into the store but weren’t able to trade until 2pm yesterday.

Refrigeration mechanics spent the majority of yesterday repairing the cracked gas pipe.

The gas leak caused a major disruption for deliveries not only for IGA but for neighbouring businesses, deliveries for IGA were postponed until this morning.

Police, ambulance and Cootamundra Shire Council were also in attendance at the IGA site.

Cootamundra Fire Brigade also received a callout to a small fire in a light at the Cootamundra Hospital during the IGA incident

The local brigade released one local truck to respond to the hospital a tanker from Young and Harden were also assigned to the new call out.

Mr Carr said no one was evacuated from the hospital and only a small amount of smoke filled the air. An electrician was contacted after the small fire was extinguished.