Firefighters evacuate South Bend homes due to gas leak

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- A gas leak at the intersection of Elwood and Eclipse in South Bend has prompted four homes to be evacuated on Monday.

The gas leak started just before noon when NIPSCO was doing construction at the intersection and broke one of their own pipes.

Firefighters on the scene said that the gas leak is creating a mild to moderate risk to people in the immediate area. The evacuations were a precautionary measure to ensure everyone's safety, but it could have been much worse.

"Another thing to our advantage is that LaSalle Intermediate School is out of session right now for the summer. And the gas cloud is moving toward the school, however no one is in the school. We have evacuated the school as a precautionary measure," said Battalion Chief Mark Catanzarite.

NIPSCO workers are in the process of fixing it now. There is no word on how long the repair will take.

Traffic is blocked off at that intersection because of the gas leak and construction.

C&E Excavating, Inc. will be working at the site until Aug. 1.