Downtown Area Evacuated After Gas Line Mishap
Four blocks in downtown Oxnard were evacuated early Thursday after a road construction crew accidentally gouged a hole in a high-pressure natural gas main with a backhoe.
Authorities evacuated about 50 people from homes and stores around the leaking 2-inch diameter pipe in the intersection of C and 6th streets for more than an hour after the 7:30 a.m. incident.
Firefighters also shut off four potential sources of ignition in the area.
Gas company crews dug a hole to the pipe about 60 feet from the original leak and pinched off the line, said Mike O’Malia, a battalion chief with the Oxnard Fire Department.
O’Malia attributed the incident to the crew from Ventura-based Williams Supply Co., which was conducting work under contract with the city of Oxnard.
“They knew the general vicinity of [the pipe] and they thought they were working away from it,” he said.
Members of the crew also risked their safety by attempting to seal the leak with duct tape, said O’Malia. “That’s really an act of desperation on a leak like this . . . You’re really just putting yourself in physical danger.”
John Williams Jr. of Williams Supply Co. declined to discuss the incident.
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