A contractor’s back hoe ruptured a gas line on the 500 block of Chestnut Avenue in San Bruno on January 24, 2012.
No injuries were reported.
According to San Bruno Fire Department Battalion Chief Charlie Barringer, the fire department received a call from a resident complaining about the smell of gas at 1:04 p.m. They arrived on the scene at 1:07 p.m., and by 1:15 p.m. they had evacuated three blocks of Chestnut, Beech, and Oak avenues.
By 2 p.m., PG&E had stopped the leak, and the evacuation order was lifted.
According to PG&E, the gas service was shut off at 3:13 p.m.
Jason King, a spokesperson with PG&E, explained that a third-party contractor (not working with PG&E) struck the gas line while digging into the street with a back hoe. While digging, the contractors unknowingly severed a half-inch service line connected to a larger, two-inch gas line.
The contractors called the San Bruno Fire Department, who proceeded to evacuate the residents of the blocks surrounding the source of the leak.
“We take all leaks seriously,” said Katie Romans, PG&E spokesperson.
San Bruno resident Kathy Peckham was at John Muir Elementary, where she works as an office manager, when she received the call from her son that they were being evacuated because of the gas leak in front of her home.
Peckham was concerned because of the events that occurred during the 2010 pipeline explosion.
“Houses can be replaced, but you can’t replace people,” Peckham said.