Gasoline Leak That Prompted Evacuations Is Diluted
A gasoline leak into San Fernando sewers that caused several minor explosions and forced more than 200 residents temporarily from their homes Saturday was diluted early Sunday, a Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman said.
Eleven companies and 55 firefighters worked until 2 a.m. Sunday, pumping a light foam into sewers to contain the vapors and dilute the gas, spokesman Jim Williamson said.
The cause of the leak is being investigated by Los Angeles county health officials, Williamson said. Fire officials believe the leak might have come from an underground high-pressure gasoline line in a Mission Hills neighborhood near Arleta Avenue and Ducat Street. Officials were also checking for underground spills from several gas stations located along the sewer lines, said city Fire Department spokesman Jim Wells.
Residents of more than 100 homes in an area of Mission Hills partly bordered by the Golden State Freeway and the Simi Valley Freeway were allowed to return to their homes about 1:30 a.m. Sunday, said Dorothy Jensen, a Los Angeles Department of Power and Water spokeswoman.
Residents had been asked to evacuate their homes because fire officials feared the fumes were highly explosive, said Fire Department Inspector Ed Reed.
No injuries resulted from the explosions and only minor damage was reported in three homes when flames erupted near sewer lines.
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