Two Redmond natural gas lines hit, leak in 5 hours

Redmond firefighters responded to a pair of natural gas line breaks caused by excavation equipment just five hours apart on opposite ends of the city Monday, the second prompting evacuations and lengthy repairs, officials said.

Cascade Natural Gas and Redmond police also responded to the two line ruptures, the first around 8 a.m. in a large subdivision under construction near Northwest 23rd Street and Hemlock Avenue, said Fire Marshal Traci Cooper.

The break in a new gas line was quickly brought under control by CNG in less than an hour, with no evacuations necessary, Cooper said.

Around 1 p.m., crews were called to another break in the area of Southeast Deschutes Avenue and Franklin Street, not far from where crews working on a sewer replacement project struck a line on Oct. 19, closing Hwy. 126.

Cooper said the second break proved more difficult than the earlier one, with much older steel pipe, taking CNG crews about four hours to stop the leak. It took several more hours to repair the break and restore service to about 30 residential and commercial customers.

Several homes and businesses were evacuated, Cooper said, and roads were blocked in the area until 5 p.m.