We had a natural gas leak in our front yard.  We called Washington Gas and they dispatched a technician to check it out.  He verified that there was indeed a leak emitting a small amount gas that was being dissipated into the air and therefore not capable of turning our neighborhood into a blazing inferno.  He said he would put in a work order to have it repaired.  A few weeks passed with no feedback or activity by Washington Gas so we decided to call the Fire Department and ask them to check the gas line and make sure the leak hadn’t gotten any worse, and hopefully “light a fire” under Washington Gas.  The firemen checked the entire gas line, including the meter and the internal feed to the furnace and water heater.  They considered it serious enough to make a call to Washington Gas to send a technician to check it out and to stick around to observe what he did and said.  A second technician arrived who essentially told the same story as the first guy and put in another work order to have it fixed.  It seems the first work order was either lost or perhaps never entered into their system.  The technician also said that the work order would go to the end of the queue as the leak was so small.  About a week later “Miss Utility” showed up and marked all the gas and electric feeds.  A few days later a Washington Gas crew showed up and repaired the leak.  They found that the leak had been caused by a tree root pressing against the pipe and stressing it enough to cause the pipe to crack.  Guess it was just coincidental that the fire department made the call and the repair was effected shortly thereafter.