4 apartment buildings evacuated in San Francisco due to gas leak
SAN FRANCISCO - Four apartment buildings in San Francisco were evacuated on Tuesday morning due to a "large" gas leak.
According to San Francisco police, a private contractor hit a natural gas line, causing a leak in the area of 25th and Hampshire streets.
Officials said a contractor's backhoe dug into and broke a 2-inch wide gas line at early to mid-morning. The city's Department of Emergency Management sent out an alert about the gas leak at around 10:30 a.m.
A gas leak was reported in San Francisco near 24th and Hampshire streets on Tuesday.
Pacific Gas & Electric, San Francisco police and the fire department responded to the area to shut off the gas.
"We immediately evacuated all the apartment buildings, the perimeter, up to 300 feet away and we also evacuated all the large apartment building as well, just to get the residents out of there," said SFFD Public Information Officer Lt. Mariano Elias.
The situation was resolved around 12:19 p.m.
Lt. Elias said residents had a reason to be scared.
"The sound almost sounds like a jet engine roaring and so it's very loud and there's a lot of commotion from a lot of bystanders who don't really know what's happening," said Elias.
Merchants along the busy street were also told to steer clear of the area.
"The fire station; they just came out. All of a sudden, we smelled gas and they were like, 'leave now' and we just kind of shut up the business and we were out of here really quickly," said Sara Spearin, owner of Dynamo Donut Shop.
"When I came in, I smelled the gas and I checked on the backside the little fixture. But the smell, no good I don’t know what happened," said laundromat manager Esperanza Perez.
Businesses along 24th Street were closed for a while.
"Definitely, we had to shut up service, shut down, send everybody home. You now, it's basically a loss for the day for us," said Spearin.
"It kept leaking until PG&E crews pinched the pipes closed. In the PG&E system, this is not unusual at all. Last year, there were 1,300 dig-ins. More than 100 a month, generally from third-party contractors or folks at home planting trees or digging in their yards. The fact is, it's completely avoidable and with contractors and should never happen.
Natural gas is a deadly poison, highly flammable and explosive, especially in an enclosed area where there can be open flames.
"I thought of that myself. We have a few pilot lights here and I thought of the exact same thing," said Spearin.
KTVU reached out to the contractor at the scene but has not yet heard back.
Authorities gave the all-clear for residents to return to their homes and for motorists to travel through the area, but some residual traffic delays persisted.