KIHEI - A combination of luck, quick decisions and, ultimately, patience led Maui County public safety officials to avoid potential tragedy from a propane gas leak along Halama Street, The Maui News reported today.

Just after 8 a.m. Wednesday, a driver for The Gas Company reported that his 3,000-gallon tanker truck had a very slow leaking valve (about a gallon a minute) as he tried to fill a private tank near the corner of Halama and Waiohuli streets, which are near South Kihei Road, said fire Battalion Chief Jeff Shaffer.

Maui police officers evacuated a half-mile radius around the truck, going door-to-door twice to make sure about 100 homes and two condominiums, the Kapulanikai and Maui Gardens, containing about 50 units each, were empty, Shaffer said.

"Of course, our number one priority is the safety of everyone," he said.

The evacuation area also included Waimahaihai Street and Welakahao Road, and police closed South Kihei Road to traffic from Lipoa Street to Welakahao Road.

A firetruck kept a steady spray of water on the gas leak to prevent a flare-up, and a firetruck from Kahului Airport was on hand to assist. It was equipped with fire-suppressing foam.

Around 1:15 p.m., authorities loaded the propane truck, which contained about 2,000 gallons of the fuel, onto a flatbed trailer truck and delivered it to an empty lot next to the Central Maui Baseyard along Mokulele Highway. Traffic was kept away from the leaky truck, as the flatbed trailer made its way along portions of South Kihei Road and Piilani and Mokulele highways.

Kihei residents were allowed to return to their homes after the propane truck left the area.

Shaffer said the propane truck's malfunctioning equipment, which caused it to ice over, made it impossible to unload the gas, which is a liquid in a vacuum-sealed tank, onto another Gas Company truck.

Instead, the entire truck was taken to the empty lot. Company spokeswoman Stephanie Ackerman said workers used a device to slowly burn off the 2,000 gallons of remaining propane. She said the operation was expected to be completed by Wednesday evening.

The evacuation was an inconvenience to Kihei residents.

"Everybody was kind of upset and frustrated," said Keoki Hino, who lives nearby. "But everything was OK."

He wasn't evacuated, but he returned home from his job as a surf instructor at Kalama Park to check on his family.

Maui County spokeswoman Mahina Martin said county officials appreciated everyone's patience in what could have been a dangerous situation. Martin said the truck needed to be removed before children returned home from school and adults from work, in order to avoid any more confusion and inconvenience.

Halama Street residents Karen Riddick and Bob Talcott served homemade cookies and coffee to neighbors who gathered under their covered lanai after being evacuated from their homes. Riddick and Talcott's home was outside the evacuation area.

Among those on the lanai was longtime Halama resident Micky Palmer Ewing. Ewing, 84, said she was on her way home when she saw the propane truck leaking.

"I was out for my early-morning walk, and as I returned home I saw the truck," she said. "It looked like water bubbling up, like a white foam or a white mist."

She said a firefighter ordered her to evacuate on foot. Ewing said she grabbed two chairs, for herself and her husband, Tom, and they headed down the street.

Kathy and Steve Allen of Washington state own a time-share unit in the Kapulanikai. They, along with their friend, Greg Anderson, had forgotten to take their wallets and purse as they were hurried out of the condo. But they later met a friend and watched "Gran Torino" at the Kukui Mall theater.

"It was kind of interesting," Kathy Allen said with a smile.

Added her husband, "If it was a nice day, we probably wouldn't have minded at all."

They said, even with the rain, it still was about 50 degrees warmer than home.

* Staff Writer Matthew Thayer contributed to this report. Chris Hamilton can be reached at chamilton@mauinews.com.