It's now more than 24 hours since an evacuation zone was widened following a butane leak in Saint John, and some residents are still waiting to go home. 

Police say the rupture happened Monday at about 11 a.m. in a line that runs from the Canaport facility on Bayside Drive to the Irving Oil refinery.

Bayside Drive and River Avenue were shut down and businesses were evacuated. Part of a causeway in the area was also temporarily shut down, as well.

Officials say the small pipeline leak has been located.

"Very short in length, so it could be a very easy repair. But that is not the issue,” says Mark Sherman, chief operating officer of Irving Oil. “The issue is really to make sure the area in and around the pipe, you don't want any explosive mixtures that would put people working on that pipe in harms’ way."

So far, fire officials say air quality readings have turned up nothing alarming.

"The number one thing anytime we have an incident like this is air monitoring,” says Deputy Chief Joe Armstrong of the Saint John Fire Department. “Our air monitoring is going to tell us exactly what we have. How big our hot zone has to be, how we can collapse it, where we need to evacuate and areas we need to concentrate on."

All butane has to be removed from the line before repairs begin. In the meantime, evacuees are waiting.

Kelsey and Owen Fillmore are among displaced residents staying at a nearby hotel. Kelsey says she is encouraged that firefighters found no trace of butane in her home.

"When I went in to get my animals, three firemen came in with me and did some testing and took some readings in and around the house,” she says. “I am reassured with the fact that they said, ‘There was no detection in your home.’"

Homes on four streets are affected by the evacuation order.

"We've registered 61 evacuees to date and there are approximately 23 hotel rooms that have been occupied, at least last evening," says Bill Lawlor of the Canadian Red Cross. 

There are about 30 homes in the evacuation area, as well as the SPCA Animal Rescue League Shelter. Firefighters are periodically escorting SPCA staff in to care for the 64 animals currently at the shelter.

"They allowed us in last night to feed them and let the dogs out to do their business and they've allowed us back in this morning to do the same," says Joan Richardson, manager of the shelter.

Butane is a light petroleum product similar to propane. It is imported to the Irving refinery.  

The company says so far, operations at the refinery have not been affected.

With files from CTV Atlantic’s Mike Cameron.