Ryan Carter
Work on a fiber-optic line accidentally punctured a natural gas
line below the corner of Buena Vista Street and Burbank Boulevard on
Tuesday, forcing the evacuation of nearby businesses and homes.
The pressure from the rupture caused gas and dust to spew up like
a geyser out of a hole officials cut into Buena Vista Street, just
north of Burbank Boulevard near Conroy's Flowers. Workers were laying
fiber-optic line and running a drill near a 12-inch-diameter supply
line about 11:30 a.m. when they accidentally punctured the line, Gas
Company District Manager Anthony P. Tartaglia said.
The line was not broken all the way through, Burbank Fire Marshal
Dave Starr said.
No one was hurt, Starr said. But an estimated 100 to 150 people
from nearby businesses and homes were evacuated. Lunch-hour traffic
was cut off on Buena Vista Street, between Burbank Boulevard and
Jeffries Avenue.
Gas service to one nearby home and a couple of apartments was shut
off as a precaution, Tartaglia said.
By early afternoon, workers had cut a hole into Buena Vista Street
in an attempt to isolate the shut-off valves that supply the line.
The valves were shut off and the spray of gas from out of the
ground subsided. All of the evacuees were able to return to their
homes or businesses by 5 p.m., Starr said.
Officials said a quick response from Fire Department and Gas
Company officials and agreeable weather conditions, such as lack of
wind, allowed the gas to dissipate quickly.
