Crime & Safety

All Clear on Springlake Drive After Two-Hour Gas Leak is Capped

Residents get automated Code Red order to stay inside after nearby construction workers cut a two-inch gas pipe. Shelter-in-place order was in effect from about 1:30 to 3:30 pm Thursday.

For two frantic hours Thursday, residents of Springlake Drive were ordered to stay indoors after workers at a nearby construction site cut a gas pipe, prompting authorities to issue an automated alert.

But PG&E crews soon sealed the leak and the order was lifted, returning life to normal along the affected area between Washington Avenue and Hesperian Boulevard.

Aisha Knowles, spokesperson for the Alameda County Fire Department, said the incident began about 1:30 pm Thursday when construction workers at a site near Washington Avenue cut a two-inch gas pipe.

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Fire officials were called to the scene, as were other agencies, including the California Highway Patrol, the San Leandro Police Department and PG&E.

Knowles said the Washington Avenue offramp to Highway 238 was closed during the incident.

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To protect neighbors along Springlake Drive, San Leandro police activated the city's automated Code Red emergency phone system, instructing residents to stay inside and keep windows and doors closed, Knowles said.

"We were also told to shut down any gas we had running," said Chanty Leang, supervisor at on the corner of Hesperian Boulevard and Springlake Drive. "That was the first time I encountered anything like that. I think [San Leandro police] handled it pretty well."

By 3:30 pm the incident was over except for residual traffic congestion. No one was hurt.


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