DANA POINT : Broken Gas Line Sends Up Geyser

A broken natural gas line sent a skyrocket of the pungent, volatile substance about 300 feet into the air near San Juan Creek on Wednesday, but no injuries were reported and the line was repaired without further incident.

Nine fire trucks and about 30 firefighters rushed to the scene on Stonehill Drive about 2:55 p.m., just after a backhoe broke through the 30-inch gas line about 6 feet underground and touched off the geyser of dirt mixed with the colorless gas, said Capt. Dan Young of the Orange County Fire Department.

Several residents of the neighborhood were evacuated, but the line was quickly shut off by Southern California Gas Co. workers. The gas dissipated in about two hours, allowing the residents to return, Young said.

“We had a pretty good plume of gas going out. It was a rocket,” Fire Battalion Chief Stan Matthews said. “The workers heard a rush of gas and they told everyone to leave the area. It was sort of an unofficial evacuation.”