Evacuations Lifted After Gas Line Break In Jefferson County
JEFFERSON COUNTY, Colo. (CBS4) - Thousands of homes were evacuated for a short time Thursday morning after a major gas line break.
Littleton Fire Rescue received a report of a natural gas odor in the area of C-470 west of S. Santa Fe Drive at 9:26 a.m. Thursday.
Firefighters arrived on scene eight minutes later and discovered a construction crew had punctured a high-pressure natural gas line.
Because of the large amount of natural gas that was escaping the decision was made at 9:54 a.m. to evacuate a large area of homes.
There were no reports of any damage or any injuries, but emergency officials had evacuated homes in a large area -- from Wadsworth Boulevard to Platte Canyon and Ken Caryl to Chatfield.
The evacuations were in place for about an hour.
Officials with Xcel Energy told CBS4 that if there were a concentrated area of gas buildup in a home, that could cause health problems. They said there's no imminent danger involved with the situation.
Xcel crews lowered the pressure of the gas line and then worked to plug the leak.
A lane of C-470 was closed while officials worked to contain the gas leak.
Some schools in the area had prepared to evacuate but didn't end up doing so.
The leak was declared under control at 11:19 a.m.
