Gas Leak Forces Residents to Stay in Homes

Residents living in the southwest end of the Westlake section of Thousand Oaks were ordered to stay in their homes Wednesday morning after a construction company cut into a large natural gas main.

Workers digging a trench to install fiber-optic cable in the 2200 block of Glastonbury Road broke the 4-inch gas main about 9:20 a.m., creating a potentially explosive situation.

A stretch of Triunfo Canyon Road between Glastonbury and Highgate roads was closed until 2:20 p.m. because of the incident. Hillsbury Road, Bowcliff Terrace and Folkstone Terrace Road were also closed to all but foot traffic.

Residents living in the neighborhood near the broken main were told to stay inside and not to use any gas or electric appliances until workers from the Southern California Gas Co. sealed the leak.

“We keep people inside so they don’t cause an ignition,” said Joe Luna, a spokesman for the Ventura County Fire Department, adding that no homes in the area were evacuated.

Luna said Wednesday’s light ocean breezes played a major role in clearing the gas fumes from the area.

“If we had the Santa Anas, it could have been a lot worse,” Luna said. The dryness caused by the desert winds creates an ideal condition for sparks, which could have ignited the leaking gas, he said.