A landscaper ran a trenching machine into a gas line in Greeley, setting a house on fire this morning.
“When the gas escaped from the line, the trenching machine ignited in flame, which caught the house on fire,” said Union Colony Fire Rescue Authority division chief Dale Lyman. He didn’t know the name of the landscaping company.
The fire at 214 51st Ave. began shortly before 10 a.m. Firefighters arrived to find flames shooting from a hole in the ground between the home — whose outside also was burning — and a neighboring house.
The ruptured gas line was feeding the fire, and it threatened to ignite the second house as well.
The blaze was extinguished, and firefighters continued to douse the flames coming from the gas line until it could be turned off.
There was no fire within the house. Lyman estimated damage to the exterior and water damage at about $20,000.
Tom McGhee: 303-954-1671 or tmcghee@denverpost.com
