Burnaby RCMP evacuated six homes this afternoon when an excavator hit a gas line during construction on a home at Hastings Street and Duthie Avenue.
Staff Sgt. Steve Crawford said both police and fire responded to the call and evacuated the surrounding homes as a precaution.
"Anytime you have a gas leak you always have that risk (of explosion), but Fortis B.C. was on site very quickly," he said. "It was a short-term exposure."
The gas line break was caused by an excavator that was digging up the front yard of a home along Duthie. Mike Lutsiak - one of the Fortis B.C. crew members who responded to the leak - said these types of breaks are fairly standard, and most of the time they happen because people forget to call before they dig.
Lutsiak's crew were attending to another call in the area when they were dispatched to the scene at Hastings and Duthie. He told the NOW that it took about an hour to repair the broken line.
The developers could not be reached to confirm whether or not they had called B.C. One Call before digging.
