PEABODY - Firefighters broke down doors and evacuated Lowell Street residents after a backhoe punctured a gas line yesterday morning, causing a dangerous amount of gas to spew into the air, fire officials said.
The leak, on Lowell Street near Endicott Street, had Peabody firefighters briefly fearing the worst. Had the gas ignited, the resulting explosion might have revived memories of the Danversport blast last year.
After receiving the call at 9:47 am., firefighters hurriedly alerted residents and evacuated surrounding buildings. As many as 40 people were escorted from the area, and teams of firefighters were kept in reserve to respond if the gas did explode.
Lucy Silva, who lives at Tannery Village Condominium at 129 Lowell St., near where workers punctured the gas line, was one of those evacuated.
"They said you have to go, the guys were working on the street and something happened," Silva said from her doorstep yesterday evening.
Silva was told by firefighters she could go to a Red Cross center but decided to do some shopping instead.
She returned by 1 p.m. and was allowed back in her home.
In the end, the gas was shut off and the leak capped without damage.
Carmen Fields, spokeswoman for National Grid, the electric company which merged with the KeySpan natural gas provider on Friday, said a contractor hit a gas line. The contractor, R.J. Devereaux of Boston, had been in the process of replacing an archaic 2-inch, high-pressure, iron gas main with a modern 6-inch plastic version.
The leak was caused when a KeySpan contractor inadvertently punctured the gas line with a backhoe, fire Chief Steve Pasdon said.
"Dig Safe did mark the street," he said.
The gas main break caused 40 customers to lose service, but all were expected to have gas restored by last night.
"KeySpan sent technicians to monitor explosive limits in the buildings," Deputy fire Chief James Coughlin said. "We had very explosive limits."
Complicating matters, the wind shifted constantly. And National Grid was slow in shutting down the main, Coughlin said. "It took an hour and 20 minutes to shut off," he said.
A strong smell of gas traveled all the way to Peabody's downtown, he said. "It was the first time in my 30 years I saw KeySpan safety personnel don breathing apparatus."
The leak, on Lowell Street near Endicott Street, had Peabody firefighters briefly fearing the worst. Had the gas ignited, the resulting explosion might have revived memories of the Danversport blast last year.
After receiving the call at 9:47 am., firefighters hurriedly alerted residents and evacuated surrounding buildings. As many as 40 people were escorted from the area, and teams of firefighters were kept in reserve to respond if the gas did explode.
Lucy Silva, who lives at Tannery Village Condominium at 129 Lowell St., near where workers punctured the gas line, was one of those evacuated.
"They said you have to go, the guys were working on the street and something happened," Silva said from her doorstep yesterday evening.
Silva was told by firefighters she could go to a Red Cross center but decided to do some shopping instead.
She returned by 1 p.m. and was allowed back in her home.
In the end, the gas was shut off and the leak capped without damage.
Carmen Fields, spokeswoman for National Grid, the electric company which merged with the KeySpan natural gas provider on Friday, said a contractor hit a gas line. The contractor, R.J. Devereaux of Boston, had been in the process of replacing an archaic 2-inch, high-pressure, iron gas main with a modern 6-inch plastic version.
The leak was caused when a KeySpan contractor inadvertently punctured the gas line with a backhoe, fire Chief Steve Pasdon said.
"Dig Safe did mark the street," he said.
The gas main break caused 40 customers to lose service, but all were expected to have gas restored by last night.
"KeySpan sent technicians to monitor explosive limits in the buildings," Deputy fire Chief James Coughlin said. "We had very explosive limits."
Complicating matters, the wind shifted constantly. And National Grid was slow in shutting down the main, Coughlin said. "It took an hour and 20 minutes to shut off," he said.
A strong smell of gas traveled all the way to Peabody's downtown, he said. "It was the first time in my 30 years I saw KeySpan safety personnel don breathing apparatus."
Peabody police rerouted traffic around the area. Evacuees were taken to a nearby parking lot. Nearly a dozen homes - including many three-family dwellings - were emptied along with Tannery Village condos. Some of those same residents were evacuated due to downtown flooding last year.
More people might have been involved, mayoral aide Dianne Marchese said, but many residents were gone to work or school.
Many residents last night said they didn't learn about the gas leak until they came home from work.
"It was a very interesting morning for the Peabody Fire Department," Coughlin said. But not, he added, as interesting as it might have been.
Staff writer Bruno Matarazzo Jr. contributed to this report.
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