City crew breaks gas line; part of Old Town evacuated
A city street crew cut into a natural gas line Friday, forcing the evacuation of several businesses in and around the Old Town Square.
The accident occurred at about 9 a.m. at the intersection of Second and Mead.
The work is part of the reconstruction of Second where it passes through Old Town. The south lane of the street is closed during construction.
Fire Marshal Stuart Bevis, Wichita Fire Department, said a road crew was doing excavation work when a 2-inch gas line was ruptured.
After the crew hit the line, work stopped immediately, and the proper steps were taken to alert authorities, Bevis said. Second Street west of Washington to Mead and the buildings that were evacuated will be closed while workers fix the damage and firefighters check for gas in the buildings.
By 10:45 a.m., both ends of the ruptured pipe were “pinched off” by the Kansas Gas Company, Bevis said.
Gas could have leaked through the ground and through pipe chases and into buildings, he said.
“It could be very dangerous, and we take it very seriously” Bevis said.
Scott Flemming, a managing director of Signal Theory, a business just south of the break point, said an employee of the firm smelled the gas and called the Fire Department.
Employees were evacuated after a check of the building basement found a strong concentration of gas, he said.
“Unfortunately, some of us forgot to get our keys and laptops,” said Flemming. “We’re waiting to get back in. We’re going to be doing a work-from-home day.”
Signal Theory is the marketing and advertising agency long known as Sullivan Higdon & Sink.
“This is the first time in the 22 years I’ve worked here we’ve been evacuated,” Flemming said.
The odor of gas was apparent and firefighters closed off streets for about a block radius around Old Town Square.
Evacuated workers clustered in groups to the north and south of the break and waited for the go-ahead to return to their jobs.
Firefighters moved though the buildings checking to make sure there were no trapped pockets of gas that could explode. One firefighter on the scene said he could hear the gas hissing out of the broken line.
The Kansas Gas Company was on scene to assess the situation.
“They told us it would probably be OK, and that we could go back to the building in half an hour. It looks like it’s probably going to be a little while longer,” said Lathi de Silva, also a managing director at Signal Theory.
This story was originally published April 19, 2019 at 10:47 AM.
