San Francisco Fire Department has issued a shelter in place order for a one-block radius around 23rd Avenue and Lake Street in the Richmond district after someone "struck" a gas line.
***SHELTER IN PLACE***GAS LINE STRUCK AT 23rd/Lake St. SHELTER IN PLACE IN PROGRESS 1 block all directions from 23rd Lake See Yellow area: pic.twitter.com/fo6KbVpG59
— San Francisco Fire (@sffdpio) June 22, 2017
The order was issued around 11:42am; residents are asked to remain in their homes and close their windows. Officials are diverting traffic until the situation is resolved.
This is the second shelter in place SFFD has issued this week due to a leaking gas line; on Tuesday, a broken gas main in the Castro kept residents indoors for more than an hour.
[Update: 12:26pm] SFFD has lifted the order; no injuries were reported.
[Update: 12:40pm] Public Works spokesperson Rachel Gordon said a employee of the department’s Bureau of Urban Forestry struck the gas line with a backhoe shortly before noon. The worker was assigned to the bureau’s cement shop, which prepares sidewalks for tree planting.
Gordon said Public Works is looking into the incident to see if the gas line was properly marked. In the meantime, “we’re sorry it happened, and we’ll do what we can to avoid it in the future,” she said.