Third-party construction ruptures gas line, no injuries
On Monday afternoon at 1:30 p.m., Arcadia Police assisted Arcadia Fire with traffic control and some evacuations in the area of First Avenue and Huntington Drive due to a very strong odor of natural gas permeating throughout that part of the city. Traffic in the area was diverted for hours while Southern California Gas (SoCalGas) worked to solve the issue and protect the neighborhood.
Residents and shopkeepers in the immediate area commented on the strong smell of gas and some complained of headaches and nausea.
According to Patrice Clayton, from the Southern California Gas Office of Media Relations, crews determined the damage to be caused by a third-party who was directional boring in the vicinity of the gas line.
SoCalGas crews completed permanent repairs at 3:10 a.m. on Tuesday and all streets were reopened.
“Three of the eight businesses affected by the outage had their service restored [Tuesday] morning. The remaining four businesses were closed due to COVID-19 but have been notified that SoCalGas will return at their request to restore their service at no charge. The eighth customer did not have gas service because the meter was shut off prior to this incident,” Clayton told Arcadia Weekly.
For safety reasons, the SoCalGas customers should never attempt to restore gas service themselves.
Customers seeking specific information about their natural gas service should call SoCalGas at (877) 238-0092.
SoCalGas reminds residents and business owners to call 811 before digging in the garden or at a construction site. Calling 811 will avoid possible injury or damage to hidden utility lines.
