Dwindling gas availability causes concern for Triangle funeral homes

Like many other businesses, funeral homes are dealing the gas shortage from the Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack.

Employees at Steven L. Lyons Funeral Home in Raleigh said they have several services this weekend and haven't been able to fill up vehicles anywhere.

"Yesterday, we tried to get some fuel for some of our vehicles. One of our vehicles had to travel to Greensboro, so coming back, there was no place to fill up," said Jermaine Wallace, an associate at the funeral home.

Wallace said not having access to gas is a major concern.

"It's very important because, not only do we use our vehicles for funeral services, we also use them for removals. So, if we get a death call at someone's house, we have to have that fuel to get to that home and return back," he explained.

Wallace went to six different gas stations on Wednesday to fuel up the funeral home's hearse and other vehicles with no luck. He's not the only one with issues.

"We have another limousine and a lead car, and another funeral home in Wake County is using it right now," said Wallace. "They're having issues trying to find fuel before they bring it back."

Wallace said he hopes that things get better soon as they have several services planned this weekend.

“We’ll try to go as normal, but it’s going to be tight because we’ll have to make decisions when it comes to family cars. Will we have enough fuel to fuel those vehicles to serve our families?" Wallace said.

He added that the funeral home will do whatever it takes to find gas before the weekend, and they're hoping they'll have luck in other counties.