A gas leak near 24th and Hampshire streets in the Mission caused several buildings to be evacuated on Tuesday morning for about three hours, as emergency crews worked to find the source of the leak and shut it down.
A four-block radius on Hampshire Street from 23rd to 25th streets and on 24th Street from Potrero Avenue to York Street was still shut down to vehicle traffic as of Tuesday afternoon, and emergency crews were on scene.
Lt. Mariano Elias, a spokesperson for the San Francisco Fire Department, said the department got a 911 call from a construction worker at 9:15 a.m. about a broken gas pipe at the intersection. A private firm had been doing work that morning, Elias said, though he did not know the name of the firm.
The crew struck a two-inch natural gas line at the intersection, Elias said, and heard a “loud roaring noise” that sounded like an “airplane engine” immediately after. Several residents and the construction worker called 911, and fire fighters rushed to the scene.
Buildings in a 300 foot radius from the leak at 24th and Hampshire were evacuated, Elias said, and businesses were closed from about 9:20 a.m. to 12 p.m., but have since been allowed to return. There were no reported injuries or fires, he added. The 33 and 48 lines were rerouted around the perimeter of the leak.
Marco Bargas, the front of house manager at Dynamo Donuts on 24th, said they lost a few hours of business when they were told to leave the shop at around 9:30 a.m. by emergency crews. Their frier wasn’t working and they didn’t have any hot water, so Bargas waited at Dolores Park for about an hour; the sidewalks were reopened by 11:30 a.m.
Bargas described the noise as a “loud hissing sound” and said there has been construction on the block for a few weeks, so loud noises were not uncommon.
The owner of Taqueria San Francisco, on 24th closer to York, said that they worked on as normal and were just told to stay inside. The restaurant had gas throughout the morning. “You can’t tell employees not to work,” he said — so, they just worked.
PG&E has since responded to the scene, and its crews are digging through the street at different locations to find the source of the leak. Elias said PG&E will have to find the source, shut off the gas pipe, fill in the construction holes, and repave the street before the area is opened again. He did not know how long that would take.
As of 1 p.m., about a dozen neon-vested PG&E workers were huddled around a hole at 24th and Hampshire streets. Pedestrians could still walk through the area.
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
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