By Jeff Proctor
Albuquerque Journal (New Mexico)

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — About 40 homes were evacuated late Thursday morning near the intersection of Unser and Bridge SW after a construction crew struck an underground fuel line, causing a sizable gas leak, officials said.

Several of the homes were unoccupied when the line burst shortly after 11 a.m., meaning only about 20 people had to take refuge at Legacy Church on West Central, Albuquerque Fire Department spokeswoman Melissa Romero said.

No one was injured, Romero said.

Michael Olivares, who was waiting at the church with his 11-yearold daughter, Faith, said the evacuation was a bit of a hassle. But he was thankful to firefighters for alerting him and his family to the situation and getting them out of their home quickly.

"Of course you never want to have to leave your house in the middle of the day like that," said Olivares, who lives right across the street from where the leak occurred. "Then again, I'd sure rather my daughter and I be here, at our church, if something bad happens. I mean, with that much gas in the air, I'd be just as worried about something blowing up as I would be about me or my daughter inhaling gas or whatever. AFD did a great job, pretty much like they always do."

Public Service Company of New Mexico workers had the leak contained by 12:55 p.m., and the ruptured six-inch pipe was fully repaired by 4:30 p.m., PNM spokesman Kevin Fuller said.

Gas service was not interrupted for any PNM customers during the repair, Fuller said.

The residents who had to be evacuated were allowed to return home after the repairs were completed, Romero said.

The pipe was broken while a private contractor's crew was working along Unser just north of Bridge, she said.

Winds gusting up to 35 or 40 mph made for a good-and-badtype scenario for residents and for those working to fix the pipe, Romero said.

"When it blows really hard like this, it certainly spreads the gas around a lot," she said. "But it also kind of helps to a certain degree because the winds tend to dissipate the gas and make it less flammable.

"Any time you have a situation like this, it is largely accidental, so I wouldn't say anyone's really to blame here."

Copyright 2008 Albuquerque Journal