GLENDALE : Ruptured Gas Main Forces Evacuation

About 150 residents were evacuated Thursday morning from homes spanning a five-block area after cable TV workers severed a high-pressure gas main--sending a plume of natural gas 30 feet into the air.

There were no injuries.

Workers were digging up asphalt on East California Avenue about 8:30 a.m. when their equipment cut through a four-inch-diameter natural gas line that provides service to 100 gas company customers, said Norman Williams, district manager for Southern California Gas Co.

About 45 firefighters, 10 police officers, a helicopter and several ambulances were called to the scene, Fire Department Battalion Chief Mike Carter said.

Gas company workers stopped the leak about four hours later, after they drilled through the asphalt on either end of the rupture to pinch off the line using a large hydraulic press.

Evacuees from 21 buildings surrounding the rupture were escorted by firefighters down the street to the YMCA on North Louise Street, where they were served coffee and doughnuts by Red Cross volunteers.

Veda Lane, who lives on the corner of California Avenue and Louise Street, said she was having a cup of coffee when firefighters banged on her door and asked her to leave.

“There was some confusion among my neighbors. I just didn’t want anything to blow up,” Lane said.

Residents were allowed to return home about four hours later after firefighters conducted a search of neighborhood residences to ensure pockets of gas were not present.

Crews restored gas service by late afternoon.

Carter said because the ruptured line was backed up by a high-pressure valve, shooting the gas straight into the air, there was a limited danger of an explosion or fire.

If wind had been present, however, officials would have been forced to evacuate a much larger area, he said.

Although natural gas is invisible, the leak was clearly visible throughout the city for several hours because dust particles clung to the gas as it escaped from the line.