Home Safety
If you smell gas — that rotten-egg odor added to natural gas so you can detect it — get everyone out of the house first. Don't flip switches, don't unplug anything, don't start the car in an attached garage. Call your gas utility's 24-hour emergency line or 911 from outside, and only after the utility clears the home does repair work begin.
If this is happening right now: leave the house first, call 911 or SoCalGas from outside.
This page is the full explanation for calmer moments. The step-by-step first-minutes playbook is on Emergency Help: What To Do First . Call Power Pro after you're safe: (833) 212-2124 .
A suspected gas leak has exactly one correct sequence, and it starts with your feet, not your phone.
Gas concentrates invisibly, and the ignition energy needed is tiny — static from clothing can be enough at the wrong concentration. Utility responders carry combustible-gas detectors and know how to make a scene safe. Your job is distance; theirs is detection. There is no version of 'just checking the water heater closet' that's worth it.
The utility's job ends at making the situation safe — often by shutting off the meter or capping the affected line. Getting your gas appliances back means finding and fixing the actual leak: a failed fitting, a corroded line under the house, a flex connector past its life, or an appliance valve. That's licensed plumbing work, it's permitted work, and it ends with a pressure test that proves the system holds before the meter is unlocked.
Most residential gas leaks are age and vibration, not drama: decades-old black iron rusting in a damp crawl space, appliance connectors that were never replaced when the appliance was, and fittings loosened by years of small earthquakes. A gas-line inspection during any plumbing visit is cheap insurance — and a seismic shutoff valve at the meter closes the line automatically in a significant quake.
Treat any gas odor as real until proven otherwise. Intermittent faint odors are classic early-stage leaks — a fitting that weeps when the line pressure or temperature changes. Call SoCalGas to check it (they respond at no charge), and if a leak is confirmed, have the line repaired by a licensed plumber.
The utility makes the situation safe — they'll find the leak, shut off the meter or the affected appliance, and tag it. Repairing the house side of the system (everything after the meter) is the homeowner's responsibility, done by a licensed plumber with a permit and a pressure test.
Yes — a home with the gas shut off has no hot water and possibly no heat, so we treat post-shutoff repairs with emergency priority. Real people answer our phones 24/7, and we handle the repair, the permit, and the pressure test the utility requires before the meter is restored.
Sources
Last reviewed: 2026-07-22
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Real people answer around the clock. Tell us what's going on and we'll dispatch a licensed pro from the office nearest you.
