We are leaving Walla Walla this morning. It’s about an hour drive up to the Tri-Cities (Kennewick, Pasco, and Richland) for our flight out of the Pasco Airport to San Francisco, and then on to Honolulu.

Not a moment too soon, in my view.

The Walla Walla Union-Bulletin has now reported the gasoline leak that closed the Marcus Whitman Hotel in downtown Walla Walla on Friday has now prompted the evacuation and closure of the main U.S. Post Office building after gas fumes were detected in the basement. The post office building is across the street and a bit down the block from the hotel, with the Chevron station, apparently the source of the gasoline leak, on the corner between the two buildings.

The reporting is pretty low key, given the nature and location of the presumed gasoline leak. It seems to be a dangerous situation still unfolding in downtown Walla Walla. It likely also means that the hotel won’t be reopening any time soon.

Yet to be seen is whether gasoline will be detected in Mill Creek, which runs right through the area. That will no doubt raise a number of additional issues.

I can just imagine the behind-the-scenes scramble to see which local law firm is going to land the inevitable liability lawsuit! Other claims for disrupted vacation plans are sure to follow.

Here’s a photo of the scene courtesy of Google Maps.

On the far left is a corner of the post office building. Farther up the block, the Chevron gas station that appears to the source of the dangerous leak. Across the street, on the right, the high rise portion of the Marcus Whitman Hotel in the background, with other low-rise parts of the building closer to the camera. Walla Walla’s Main Street is just one block straight ahead.