By Paul Sylvain

The Machias Hannaford store on Dublin Street was evacuated and closed its doors to customers and store associates for nearly five hours Tuesday, Aug. 1, as the Dead River Company investigated the reported odor of gas. 

The evacuation occurred around 10 a.m. and the store remained closed until 2:30 p.m, while shoppers and employees in the store at the time were quickly evacuated. 

According to Machias Police Chief Keith H. Mercier, neither the town’s police or fire departments, nor the Washington County emergency dispatch center received any assistance calls from the store. “I just heard about it myself,” he said, around 11 a.m., adding he had no clue what was up.

Customers going to Hannaford’s were met in the parking lot by store employees telling them the store was closed. The workers remained outside until Hannaford’s reopened.

Store manager John Thimlar confirmed the problem was related to an odor of gas earlier that morning. The store immediately called Dead River, the store’s gas supplier, to investigate, he said. Nothing was found and the business was cleared to reopen.

In a town with Hannaford’s is the only major supermarket serving this town of 2,200 people, customers were forced to drive 17 miles to the 4-Corners Shop ‘n’ Save in Columbia or take their chances on finding what they needed at one of the gas station convenience stores in Machias.

By 3 p.m. it was business as usual with a full parking lot and a packed store of eager shoppers.