PG&E crews cap gas leak in downtown San Jose

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) -- Over 5,000 people were evacuated in downtown San Jose as PG&E repaired a ruptured pipeline leaking flammable natural gas, a fire official said.

PG&E says the gas leak was so deep that they needed a cage to lower crews down to cap the leak. The leak was capped Friday around 8 p.m.

Still, much of the downtown area near Market and Santa Clara streets were closed most of the night. Their plan was once the leak is capped, crews would have to go building to building to inspect for any problems.

PG&E crews remained on the scene until 8 a.m. Saturday to conduct safety tests and restore service to nearly 40 commercial customers.

The San Jose Fire Department evacuated about 2,500 people who were working on Friday in businesses in the area of the leak at 1 S. Market St. after it was reported at 11:07 a.m., Capt. Mike Van Elgort said. From 45 to 50 city firefighters were sent to the scene.

PG&E spokeswoman Michele Tell said that a construction crew not affiliated with the utility was using digging equipment Friday morning when it pierced the 4-inch pipe and the gas started to escape into the air.

The cloud billowed four stories up, spreading in the direction of the wind.

Firefighters with masks were able to walk into the gas cloud to find the ruptured line, but without protection, paramedics said people could suffer oxygen deprivation.

A top priority was blocking off streets and evacuating thousands of office workers at the crossroads of downtown San Jose.

Mitch Cartoscelli, who works in the area, describes how fast it all happened. "They just walked inside and just came in and told us to evacuate. We heard all the floors above us evacuating through the stairwell, so that's what originally got our attention."

The ventilation systems of nearby buildings began to suck in the natural gas, causing alarm as the smell of rotten eggs permeated the air - the gas additive that serves to warn people.

"Another co-worker just came into my office. He said, 'Do you smell something funny?' I said, 'Yeah, it smells like gas.' He ran into another office, got some masks for our co-workers. We were already prepared," said Eddie Balaoro, who also works in the area.

The gas is flammable and can flash when ignited and possibly trigger fires, Van Elgort said. Any ignition source could have had critical consequences. "It's a pretty high volume of natural gas that can kind of seek an ignition source, and so our goal and job is to try to prevent that from happening and prevent anyone from getting hurt," explained Elgort.

The wind direction determined where people were evacuated. Of those evacuated, 700 to 800 were construction workers at a 25-story apartment building site.

Some people stood around for hours, while others had the option to hang out at the farmers' market just a block away. Others had no choice but to stay because they were cut off from their cars.

Bay City News contributed to this story.