Rupture in Gas Line Forces Evacuations

A natural gas leak forced 30 people to be evacuated from their homes and caused a massive traffic backup Thursday afternoon when a large natural-gas line was accidentally ruptured at a Somis industrial park facing California 118.

The break occurred when an excavating machine clearing a dirt lot in the 4500 block of Los Angeles Avenue--a stretch of California 118--struck the line about 3:45 p.m., Ventura County fire officials said.

“The firemen came to the door and said turn off all the pilot lights and leave,” said Kim Sowell, who lives with her mother and sister in a small house at 4512 North St., less than 100 feet from the break.

The rupture forced sheriff’s deputies to close both lanes of California 118 between Somis and Bradley roads for more than three hours. Gas Co. crews arrived and shut off the gas flow, but a gas and water mixture that had collected in the line continued to spew for more than an hour. Fire crews left the scene about 9 p.m. It was unclear when the repair would be finished.

Westbound traffic on California 118 toward Camarillo and other west county cities was rerouted south on Somis Road and onto Las Posas Road or the Ventura Freeway. California 118 is a major alternate route for commuters.

The industrial park, which houses an upholstery business and a custom cabinet shop, abuts an older neighborhood that surrounds the small Somis School, which was built in 1895.

Residents living in homes and in an apartment complex on Arch Street, directly behind the industrial park, as well as about 10 homeowners on North Street were evacuated, fire officials said.

Displaced residents stood on North Street and chatted with neighbors, deputies and firefighters while utility crews worked to repair the break, which occurred in a 16-inch transmission line about 3 feet underground.

Chuck McKinney, whose Camarillo business was hired to prepare the ground for a new parking lot, said he was on the excavator when it struck the line. He said the break caused a blast of small pebbles and debris to spew more than 30 feet in the air.

“It looked like Yellowstone,” he said.

McKinney said he had been told by the industrial park’s owner that the line was more than 15 feet below ground.

Five workers in the industrial park fled the scene on foot, and one of those, a seamstress at the upholstery shop, suffered a minor cut on her face during a fall, said Sandy Trapp, a county firefighter.

“She was jumping over a fence and landed on her head,” Trapp said. The woman went home after being given an ice pack.