A ruptured gas line caused an evacuation in one neighborhood on Wednesday.
Some city residents had to leave their homes for a short time on Wednesday afternoon just after 3 p.m. when crews working on a water line struck and ruptured a natural gas line on Ontario Drive in the Lynn Valley area.
A work crew from the Elizabethton Water Department was working near the intersection of Ontario Drive and Michigan Avenue when they struck the line, Elizabethton Fire Department Capt. Steve Murray said.
“They were at least four feet away from where the gas line was marked,” Murray said. “This was not anyone’s fault.”
There are many old lines and infrastructures that run underneath the city, Murray said, adding that can make it difficult to accurately determine where the active lines are.
After the gas line was broken, firefighters and officers of the Elizabethton Police Department evacuated four nearby homes as a precaution, Murray said.
Many of the residents walked a short distance up the street to sit in the shade and watch the crews work to repair the lines.
Harold and Virginia Hubbard, who live at 603 Ontario Drive were among those evacuated.
“We could smell it real strong inside the house,” Harold Hubbard said. “That thing is leaking right across from my house. You could see it blowing up out of the ground.”
Once the breach was sealed and gas was no longer leaking, the residents were allowed to return back to their homes, Murray said.
Members of the Elizabethton Fire Department, Elizabethton Police Department and the Carter County Rescue Squad responded to the accident.