Spark Ignites Gas Leak, Forces Evacuation

A 10-foot flame, fueled by a leak in a gas company line, burst from a North Hollywood street after a telephone technician struck a spark from a manhole cover Thursday, and the pillar of fire burned for more than two hours, forcing the evacuation of more than 200 people from businesses in the area.

No injuries were reported, said Mike Little, a Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman.

The fire was not immediately put out in order to allow the gas to dissipate, he said. Firefighters controlled the blaze with fire extinguishers two hours later, out of fear that the flames could be sucked into underground telephone or gas lines, he said.

The gas leak was detected about 11 a.m. by a Pacific Bell technician during a routine gas check of an underground vault at a manhole in front of Valley Moulding & Frame at 10708 Vanowen St., near the Burbank Airport, Little said.

The splicing technician, Brian Murray, was equipped with a gas detection instrument, said Kathleen Flynn, a Pacific Bell spokeswoman. “He got a dangerously high reading of gas and he also smelled it,” she said.

Checking gas levels is standard procedure for Pacific Bell employees before performing maintenance work in underground vaults, Flynn said.

After detecting the leak, Murray tried to recover the manhole with the steel lid, but it struck a spark that ignited the gas, Flynn said.

“When it first lit it was invisible, but I felt the heat,” Murray said. “I wasn’t frightened. . .I was just concerned about the cables.”

An explosion followed and a gas-fueled flame shot into the air, around the manhole cover, but Murray was not injured, Flynn said.

When firefighters and gas company employees removed the manhole cover to allow the gas to dissipate, the column of fire ballooned to 10 feet above the pavement, Little said.

About 200 employees were evacuated from businesses on Vanowen between Vineland and Clybourn avenues, where gas concentrations of 100% were detected in tests of soil underground, Little said. The area was closed to traffic until 6 p.m.

Natural gas is most dangerous at concentrations from 4% to 14%--the proper combination of gas and air to cause an explosion, said Norman E. Williams, a district manager for Southern California Gas Co.

About 55 firefighters, including a city hazardous materials team, and numerous gas company employees spent the day trying to determine the location of the leak, which was discovered about 5:50 p.m. in an abandoned gas line that was supposed to be empty, Williams said. The source of the gas was located and turned off, he said.