Some Homes Evacuated After Chicago Lawn Gas Line Rupture

CHICAGO (CBS) -- An excavating crew, working on the Southwest Side for the city Water Management Department, hit a gas main Wednesday evening.

Residents of nearby homes, on the 6400 block of South Sacramento Avenue, were evacuated briefly until the gas line could be shut off, said Chicago Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford.

There was no explosion or fire, and no one was injured as a result of the leak, although the Fire Department brought in a hazardous materials team because of the evacuation.

The line, a two-inch diameter medium-pressure line used for residential natural gas delivery, was hit by the crew working under contract to Water Management as the water crew tried to repair a "Buffalo Box," the valve used to turn on and shut off water to residential customers, said Water Management spokesman Tom LaPorte and Peoples Gas spokesperson Jennifer Block.

Peoples Gas shut off gas to the ruptured main shortly before 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, Langford said.
All said that the break was "routine" in nature.