Gas leak disrupts homes and school

SOUTH JORDAN — A gas leak created by a construction crew Thursday caused six homes to be evacuated and a middle school lockdown.

The Jordan Valley Conservancy District hired a third-party contracting crew to do its construction and maintenance Thursday morning. The crew made a hole in the asphalt at 10500 South and 2700 West, where it worked near a gas pipe.

"A piece of their equipment made a clean break through the plastic gas pipe," said Chip Dawson, South Jordan's public information officer.

A Questar employee was on the scene, or arrived shortly after, and set up to clamp the two ends of the broken pipe, officials said. In the process, something ignited the gas, shooting a flame 40 feet into the air.

"Very rarely do gas lines ever ignite like this," Dawson said.

The pipe broke at 9:15 a.m., and the fire department arrived at 9:25. The South Jordan Police Department put a lockdown on South Jordan Middle School. The school was not evacuated, though some students were asked to walk to the back side of the building to meet their waiting parents.

The fire department blocked off roads from 9800 South to 10500 South along 2700 West.

Two people, the Questar employee and a firefighter, were treated for minor injuries.

The people residing in the six evacuated homes were allowed to return to their houses at 1:30 p.m. The road was expected to be repaired and reopened by the end of the business day.