Gas-Line Fire, Odor Report Not Related

A tree service worker grinding the stump of an ash tree hit a gas line Wednesday morning, sparking flames that burned for half an hour.

In an apparently unrelated incident occurring about the same time, about 20 businesses called authorities to report a gas-like odor that lingered in the air in Chatsworth for about 20 minutes, but authorities could not pinpoint its source.

In the Canoga Park incident, no one was hurt and there was no significant property damage. The stump grinding machine hit the gas line about 10 a.m. in the frontyard of a home in the 8400 block of Farralone Avenue. Neighbors said flames reached 12 feet in height.

Southern California Gas Co. and Los Angeles Fire Department crews responded, shutting off the gas line while firefighters kept a hose on the house as a precautionary measure until the flames died out.

Gas company officials said the line runs about 6 inches underground, a foot shallower than regulations mandate, probably because tree roots have pushed it up over the years.

“Boy, that was scary,” next-door neighbor Doris Noster said after the fire was out. “I thought we were going to lose both houses.”

About the same time, workers at about 20 Chatsworth businesses noticed an odor.

Gas company and Fire Department crews who investigated the reports said the odor had dissipated by the time they arrived, and no source was found. The area is about two miles from Canoga Park.

Southern California Gas representative Denise King said the fire and the reports of an odor were unrelated. She also said crews ruled out the possibility that the odor was natural gas.

“We don’t know where the odor came from,” King said.