A mandatory evacuation has been lifted for residents living in 180 homes in and adjacent to the Riva Chase community in the foothills west of Denver, according to Mark Techmeyer of the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office.
Techmeyer said that Xcel Energy crews were able to stop the gas leak in a ruptured gas line and the residents are being allowed to return to their homes.
The evacuation was ordered shortly before 11 a.m. for all people living within a quarter mile of Forest Hills Drive and Shingle Creek Road .
The line was cut by a construction crew installing a fiber optic line.
Techmeyer said Xcel crews are still attempting to determine which of two gas lines – one a 2-inch, the other a 3-inch – was ruptured. The lines run close together, said Techmeyer.
Mark Stutz, spokesman for Xcel Energy, said Xcel received a report at 10:51 a.m. that the construction crew – not an Xcel crew – had cut a line at 984 South Grapevine Road.
There was no disruption of service to customers in the area, said Stutz.
Kenneth DeVries, who lives in the 900 block of South Grapevine Road, said the gas line was hit on the southern edge of his property.
DeVries said he saw a Comcast crew digging about 9:15 a.m. and asked what they were doing, and they told him they were installing a fiber optic line.
DeVries said he cautioned the crew there were gas lines in the area.
He said his neighbor’s property to the south had been flagged to mark the gas lines, but no flags were near the road where he believes the crew hit the line.
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com.
