Our engine company, with four, was dispatched to a gas leak, inside a residential structure. On arrival, the Captain was informed by the homeowner, of a gas leak in the kitchen, with the meter being in the basement. As I came off the engine, I heard the homeowner say, down the basement and make a right. My Captain headed into the house and I went with him. The other firefighter and the driver were getting the gas monitor in service. When we entered the house, we knew we had more than a small gas leak. The gas line to the stove was disconnected, pumping natural gas into the home. My Captain headed for the basement, I started opening up the house. I then went down the stairs, made a right turn, into a laundry room. At the same time, my Captain entered, from the opposite side and said he was having problems locating the meter. We continued looking and found the meter in a closet, the meter was visible through a small hole, cut in the drywall. We tried, with no success to shut the gas off, with the tools we had. We headed back upstairs, for more equipment, where we met our other firefighter, with the gas meter, that was in full alarm. I gave the captain a pair of channel locks and he headed back to the basement. The other firefighter informed me, that we were operating in a 10-15% LEL atmosphere. We continued opening up. I was going to kink the line and kneel on it, when the Captain got the gas shut off, after knocking a small hole in the drywall. We were able to completely open the house up, and the levels began dropping. Lessons learned: Don't rush in, take the time to ensure a complete size-up. Call for more help right away, it's better to call than not call at all. Wear you mask, it may sound routine, but it's not. Treat every run like it could be your last, one spark and this one could have been for 3 of us. An empty residence is not worth 3 firefighters lives. Stay calm, no matter what the situation, We all stayed calm and did what needed to be done. We worked as a team and thankfully we all went home.

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