Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
WINONA LAKE - A gas leak about 1:15 p.m. Tuesday at Sunset Drive and Timber Lane forced the evacuation of approximately 20 homes and all Grace Village residents for nearly three hours.
Winona Lake town secretary Mary Polston said today Indiana-American Water Co. was "laying a water line down there and I think they got a little too close."
Indiana-American Water Co. local manager Hal Gurkin said the leak occurred while a water line was being laid for Lakeland Christian Academy. He said representatives "hit a gas main that they didn't see while they were digging to lay the main."
Gurkin said this "doesn't happen frequently" but occasionally it has occurred. "This is my first time I've had to handle a situation like this," Gurkin said.
Indiana-American Water Co. Communication Director Joe Loughmiller said the gas main broke at approximately 1:15 p.m. Tuesday.
"There were some contractors, Cripe Excavating, installing a water main for Lakeland Christian Academy," Loughmiller said, "(and) a 2-inch plastic gas main broke."
He said as a safety precaution, residents at Grace Village were relocated "to the east side of the facility and about 20 homes were evacuated."
No one was hurt, and residents were allowed to return to their homes around 4 p.m. when the gas was shut down.
"With so many utilities underground (that) you mark," Loughmiller said of the gas leak, "it does happen occasionally, but thankfully, not that often."
