Irvine : Broken Gas Line Causes Evacuation of 60 Homes

A gas leak caused by a broken main forced the evacuation Monday of more than 60 homes in the College Park residential area, a spokesman for the Orange County Fire Department said. No injuries were reported.

A four-inch natural gas main near Sawleaf Avenue and Poplar Street was ruptured about 1:30 p.m. by a drilling crew from Le Roy Crandall & Associates of Los Angeles, who have been contracted by the city to study the city’s underground water supply, Irvine Fire Department spokesman Pat Antrim said. The department evacuated the more than 60 homes on Beach, Oak and Birch avenues in less than 45 minutes, Antrim said. Residents who were evacuated and students from College Park Elementary School, two blocks away from the affected area, were held at the school about two hours until officials investigated the leak, he said.

Lt. Bob Lennert of the Irvine Police Department said safety reasons precipitated evacuating the area. “Our reason for evacuating everybody was so we didn’t have someone light a match or a car backfiring” in the area, which could start a fire, he said.

However, air samples taken by the Fire Department’s hazardous materials team showed a gas concentration that was “not flammable enough to cause ignition,” Antrim said.

Additionally, the Fire Department cut off gas service to the affected houses “just as a precautionary measure,” said Gail L. Roseen, district manager of the Southern California Gas Co. She said the gas company was making permanent repairs to the damaged main.

By 3:35 p.m., residents were returning to their homes and gas service was being restored.