San Leandro gas leak forces thousands to evacuate; residents allowed back home

SAN LEANDRO, Calif. - Residents were allowed back home nearly five hours after a mandatory evacuation order due to a six-inch gas pipe that erupted in San Leandro early Sunday morning. More than 12,500 residents in a neighborhood just west of the I-880 and I-238 split.

Police said the pipe was located in flood canal at Lewelling Blvd. and Washington Ave. and ruptured around 5:00 a.m. 

The evacuations meant an "immediate threat to your life," according to Alameda County Fire Department, and residents were ordered to leave the area right away. 

"I saw what it did in San Bruno so it’s serious," resident Chris Alvarez told KTVU as he was leaving his home. 

Police also had the 2010 explosion that killed 8 people at the top of their minds. 

"When I received the call, the first thing I thought of was San Bruno. That is the worst case scenario which is what obviously we’re trying to avoid," said Captain Ali Khan with the San Leandro Police Departmetn. "Based on the gas leak and plume location of the maps, we knew that 12,500 was a moderate amount of residents that we needed to evacuate for safety precautions." 

Khan said this situation was the best-case scenario.

"The positive news is because of the rain, where the gas leak is actually under water. So it’s fuming from under the water, which has helped us in the amount of evacuations we had to do," said Khan. 

In addition to the evacuations, PG&E also cut off power to about 400 customers. 

A temporary shelter was set up at Marina Community Center located at 15301 Wicks Blvd.

Officials say the rupture occurred at a transition line. By 9:30a.m. Sunday the evacuated residents were allowed back into their homes. 

San Leandro Police, CHP, Alameda Co. Sheriff's Office were on the scene helping ACFD crew.