Residents were allowed to return home Thursday morning after a natural gas leak in Mission Beach forced the evacuation of a roughly five-block area and prompted a road closure that remains in place.
A construction crew accidentally ruptured a 3/4-inch-diameter utility line while digging at Strandway and Yarmouth Court around 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, according to the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department.
While crews worked to repair the line, firefighters evacuated an area bordered by Ocean Front Walk, Verona Court, Zanzibar Court and Mission Boulevard, and police shut down the latter street between Pacific Beach Drive and Santa Rita Place.
An emergency shelter was set up by the Red Cross at the Pacific Beach Recreation Center, 1405 Diamond Street, to assist displaced residents.
The San Diego Humane Society’s emergency response team also set up a shelter at the Pacific Beach Recreation Center to help displaced residents with pets.
Around 100 San Diego Gas & Electric employees worked overnight to shut off the broken pipeline and they controlled the gas at 1:30 a.m., the utility said in a statement.
As of 7:45 a.m., the evacuations were lifted, SDG&E spokesman Wes Jones said.
Around 160 customers had their gas service shut off and crews are expected to begin going door-to-door at 9:30 a.m. to relight pilot lights at those affected homes, Jones said.
Crews shut off power to 374 customers in the area while they made repairs, according to the utility. Those customers had service restored by 5 a.m.
Mission Boulevard between Pacific Beach Drive and Santa Rita Place remained closed Thursday morning, San Diego police public-affairs Officer Billy Hernandez said. It was not immediately clear when the roadway would reopen.
–City News Service
